Reactor Media

mbliss81

Reefing newb
Has anyone ever tried to use Purigen in a media reactor?

I have been running NPX Bioplastics in my reactor for about a year, but I decided it was time to change the media, and thought I might try using the Purigen I had sitting around. It takes almost no flow to fluidize the Purigen, and I actually had to be really careful not to have it up too high and blow all the media out into the tank, but it's up and running since yesterday afternoon.

I'm going to watch it close and see how it does, and I may go back to fresh biopellets if it doesn't work as well as I want. Or I might add another reactor and run both.

I'd love to hear some opinions.
 
I tried running purigen in a sock filter in a high flow area of my sump and the pellets got pulverized and turned my tank milky white. I have no idea how running them in a reactor would work but I'd be very careful with flow rates as they easily break down.
 
So far my only issue has been that you have to keep the flow extremely low. It only takes a light flow to fluidize this stuff, and it's so small that if you have it a little too high it will get blown right out into your tank.

I tried to prevent this by using part of the bag the Purigen came in as a screen inside the reactor, but the little buggers still work their way around it and get through.

Other than that issue, the water looks really clear and polished. Tests will tell if it's actually doing its job as well as the biopellets did.

I'm working on figuring something out that will keep all the Purigen in the reactor while allowing for higher flow.
 
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