Chemi-Pure

saltn00b

Active Member
who has experience with it?
i have a couple of jugs of it and i am finally finished with my carbon so i am about to start using it for the first time. Does anyone know if it can be used in a reactor (such as a phosban reactor) with high flow? I know carbon and phos-ban are supposed to be at a gentle flow rate because the media may tumble and pulverize and then get into the water column causing coral distress and death. is this the case with chemi pure or are the granules tougher allowing for a more brisk rate of flow? The reason i want to maximize flow is because i am about to dose Flatworm exit and the directions call for a good amount of carbon to insure for lower toxicity levels, but the FWE is a whole other thread....
any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
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nereef

Guest
it doesn't seem to fall apart as much as carbon, imo. you'll see when you rinse it. i have no experience with reactors, though. how much flow goes through the reactor? can you use a media bag in the reactors? there are bags out there with smaller holes (more tightly woven).
 

saltn00b

Active Member
i can use media bags and not use them. right now i keep phosban and half a bag of carbon in the reactor with a flow kept at a pace that is just enough for the phosban media to look like a slow rolling boil. in other words, very slow trickle. I want to take out all of the media replace with chemipure for the time being.
 

rsd

Member
it works great for fresh water... but they were told to remove "saltwater" from there labels (as I heard from my LFS).
Think of it as a DI filter... since that's what it is.
Can you imagine running salt water through a DI filter. It's be spent in the first minute. after that... it is just expensive carbon.
I switched to regular carbon and my tank is MUCH happier and so is my wallet.
Just my 2 cents.
 

saltn00b

Active Member
wow thats the first i have heard of that. anybody have more info on that?
in any case i have three jugs of it that i need to use regardless if its overpriced. any other input on flow rate through a reactor?
 
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dennis210

Guest
I was also advised against it. Run carbon, black diamond is my favorite, and change it on schedule. Water changes at same time. My tank has corals fish and inverts galore and everything grows well!
 

myzislow

Member
I never run any carbon and don't really see the need to. Do you have a lot of leathers/soft corals or something? What is the main benefit of running carbon continuous in a reef tank, besides making the water clearer? I can understand the need if your system is over loaded with leather corals or if you had a cuke/ sea apple die off. Just curious, as I've seen many thriving reefs that go carbon less for there entirety, mine included.
 

hammerhed7

Active Member
the resin inside the media bag does look exactly like DI resin, I don't think I would run it through a reactor because it tends to get a slimy consistency after it has wet.
I have run it in my reef for a year, water stays clear. can't really say if it is better than carbon, but it has not hurt
 

rsd

Member
It's interesting. When I started this hobby... there was concern about over-skimming, over-cleaning (carbon), over this, or over that.
But now, it seems that the key to SPS especially, is to make the water as clear as possible. Everything you see and read says that the water around the reef is a virtual desert. No nutrients, no phosphates (or other fertilizers), and crystal clear. Some of the best reefers I know had the above mindset... but as technology improved and more tests become available... giant skimmers, mass purification, and lots of scrubbing has produced growthrates that are unbelievable for sps.
If you have all softies... no worries. If you want to run acro's, deep color monti's, and other "rare" SPS. I doubt you can purify the water enough.
I currently run 3 skimmers (not enough realestate for a large skimmer), carbon, phosban, and have reduced feeding by 50%. My corals are growing faster than ever before and thier color is awesome. Once I noticed the change in purity... I upgraded lights. I am more than excited.
Next step... create realestate and go big with the skimmers.
 
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dennis210

Guest
On the constant use of carbon! When you start a tank and fill it with corals you may surmise that their is some or a bunch of chemicals secreted by corals to ensure their territory. Skimming and carbon togehter give us the ability to pack a tank without chemical warfare harming our specimens.
It's what I was taught and since running carbon continually and swapping out red sea and seaclone skimmers to the big coral life super skimmer 225 I see tremendous results.
 

saltn00b

Active Member
well, thats not what this thread was about. yes carbon helps reduce toxins, but if you think that close proximity inter-coral chemical warfare does not and can not happen if you run some carbon, you are surely mistaken.
 
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