Intank Media Basket setup

[Patric1]

Couple questions for you guys on this fine day!
I ordered the Intank media basket for my biocube 16 and was wondering can you run it without carbon..or put carbon in for a week every month and take it out? Just out of curiosity. Also what would be a could order for the basket i figured-
Top shelf-floss
Middle-?
Bottom- matrix or ceramic rings?
Been running the stock biocube filter cart with ceramic rings and carbon with filter floss with it has been cycling but wanted to ditch the cart and throw the INTank in. Opinions are greatly appreciated

 

[muzikalmatt]

You can absolutely take carbon out. It typically exhausts itself after a week or two anyways. I have the inTank media basket in my IM Nuvo Fusion 40 and run the following:

Top: Filter Floss
Middle: Chemi-pure Blue
Bottom: Marine Pure Bioballs

At different points in time I've used purigen, rowaphos and BRS Rox carbon in the middle chamber as well. It just depends on what the tank needs at the time. I've been sticking with the current setup for a few months now. I change out the filter floss every 3-4 days and the chemi-pure blue once a month.

 

[Patric1]

You can absolutely take carbon out. It typically exhausts itself after a week or two anyways. I have the inTank media basket in my IM Nuvo Fusion 40 and run the following:

Top: Filter Floss
Middle: Chemi-pure Blue
Bottom: Marine Pure Bioballs

At different points in time I've used purigen, rowaphos and BRS Rox carbon in the middle chamber as well. It just depends on what the tank needs at the time. I've been sticking with the current setup for a few months now. I change out the filter floss every 3-4 days and the chemi-pure blue once a month.

Ok that’s help a lot, here’s my questions on your response
- if i ever have to dose my tank with medications would i have to take the chemi pure out while doing so and if so how do i preserve it while the meds are being dosed
- what’s the difference between chemi pure and Purigen

 

[muzikalmatt]

I'm not sure I would recommend dosing medication to your display tank. If you need to treat any of your fish, typically you'll want to remove them and place them in a hospital/quarantine tank and treat them separate from your DT. While some medications like Prazipro are generally considered reef safe, they can still kill things like feather dusters and bristleworms which could lead to an ammonia spike due to the die off.

Regarding chemi-pure and purigen, there is probably some overlap in what they do but it depends on which chemi-pure product you use. I use chemi-pure blue which is supposed to reduce organics, silicates, dissolved metals and phosphates in your water. Purigen on the other hand states that it helps control ammonia, nitrites and nitrates in addition to polishing your water. Purigen can supposedly be reused/regenerated by cleaning it in a solution of bleach and water, but personally I would never take the risk of getting bleach into my tank.

I used to run both chemi-pure blue and purigen in the middle chamber, but I never saw much of a difference in my water parameters when I stopped using purigen. However, my phosphates did seem to creep up when I stopped using chemi-pure. That's all anecdotal experience though.

Overall, I would not recommend relying primarily on chemical filtration for nutrient export though, more as a supplement. If you can avoid it entirely, it's probably better (and cheaper) to not use it all, but I started from the beginning using chemi-pure blue and my tank's overall filtration has stabilized around it's use so I continue to use it. I also run a refugium and a skimmer which are my primary nutrient export mechanisms (along with water changes). Hope this information helps!

 

[reefiniteasy]

I use the InTank basket in my BioCube 16. I run floss in the top, purigen in the middle, and ChemiPure Blue in the Bottom. I’m currently trying Blue Life’s Clear FX Pro in place of the ChemiPure. So far I like it.

 

[Reefer Optima]

Using InTank basket in my Nanocube 24 I run
Foam block in top chamber, InTank filter floss with a felt like pad underneath. In bottom shelf chemipure blue & Matrix.

I have removed carbon before when I was dosing Fluconazole for GHA & it recommended leaving carbon out & turning off skimmer for 3 days. I just placed it in a cup until I readded it back in the system.