Chemipure Elite vs Carbon & GFO
- Thread starter drstratton
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Heres a poat from another sote:
I used Chemi-Pure (regular) for many years; then read a post by Randty Holmes-Farley. He's a true expert on marine water chemistry. He explained why the ion-exchange claims made by CP were impossible in SW. Its on the RC site somewhere. CP is just basically an expensive carbon product. The "elite" just adds some (not much) ferric compound to remove phos & silicates. The ferric hydroxide depletes much faster than the carbon. If you have a phos problem, just use one of the ferric hydroxide separately and well rinsed carbon if you want. Much more efficient and cheaper.
I used Chemi-Pure (regular) for many years; then read a post by Randty Holmes-Farley. He's a true expert on marine water chemistry. He explained why the ion-exchange claims made by CP were impossible in SW. Its on the RC site somewhere. CP is just basically an expensive carbon product. The "elite" just adds some (not much) ferric compound to remove phos & silicates. The ferric hydroxide depletes much faster than the carbon. If you have a phos problem, just use one of the ferric hydroxide separately and well rinsed carbon if you want. Much more efficient and cheaper.
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drstratton
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Thank you for the information. I kind of figured that was the case, but wanted to make sure. Someone told me that I should use it in my 20g frag tank. I wanted to find out more about it before buying any.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Chemipure has GAC (granular activated carbon) in it which is useful,a nd the Elite has GFO, which is useful. If it is a convenient form for you to use, then it is an OK product, with the recognition that the ion exchange isn't useful in seawater (although it may bind some organics).
But you may get more for your money (or better GAC) by buying GAC and GFO separately.
But you may get more for your money (or better GAC) by buying GAC and GFO separately.
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drstratton
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Thank you Randy! I am already running ROX carbon and have just started using GFO in my DT, so that is what I will do for my frag tank. In your opinion is it better to use the High Capacity GFO or is it just more expensive? I bought 1lb of the regular from BRS to try it out. I was going to get the HC, but they were out of stock. Thank you!
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I'm not entirely sure whether it is cost effective to use the high capacity or not. I've used both, but I've never seen good data on exactly how much capacity for each actually gets used in typical reef applications. Some people prefer it for its physical properties (like harder and less dust) at least as much as its capacity, however.
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drstratton
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Thank you again Randy! I can see where a harder product with less dust would be beneficial, I'm just not sure that the cost is worth it.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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You're welcome.
Happy Reefing.
Happy Reefing.
Downbeach
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I had a very stable system, i.e. bio mass, bio load, feeding habits, etc. I've used both the regular and the HC, and found the HC to be a bit more more cost effective. In my case using the regular I would get about 6 to 7 weeks of use before my PO4 would start to increase, when I switched to the HC using half the amount vs the regular, I would get about 8 to 9 weeks. Measurement were done with a Hanna checker(HI736).
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drstratton
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Thank you for sharing this info, it's good to know and a good point towards using the HC.
