Marine Pure blocks vs Live Rock

[Cory]

Cory, MarinePure is inert and doesn't release Aluminium and this has been proved, the instances of aluminium showing up on a Triton ICP test is not proved to be caused by MarinePure and there is nothing to say it is not coming from anything else within the system and could well be from using a Alum based Phosphate remover at some stage. Also there is very little active bacteria in the water and how can it be on the glass I clean mine.

MarinePure is a need if you don't wish to have masses of Live Rock in your system and with the big block will and does reduce Nitrates. Why would you want to rely on dosing your system with Vodka? Personally I'd rather sit down and watch my balanced system and it's live stock with the vodka in a glass that I can hold to my lips and drink! Cheers to you all.

Vodka is a missing ingredient in reef tanks, well carbon is. If bacteria was so efficient they would keep up, but they dont. Why? Because our tanks are tiny compared to the food we put in. So they need a little help. With 5ml of vodka i can make more bacteria in the water, than this porus stone can hold. But this is an advanced method and not reccomended for new reefers.

Its part of my reef ethics not to put anything metal in my tank. It might be inert, but ive seen triton tests with marine pure having elevated aluminum. Try and make a rock that is calcium based. Id put that in.

 

[MartinWaite]

Vodka is a missing ingredient in reef tanks, well carbon is. If bacteria was so efficient they would keep up, but they dont. Why? Because our tanks are tiny compared to the food we put in. So they need a little help. With 5ml of vodka i can make more bacteria in the water, than this porus stone can hold. But this is an advanced method and not reccomended for new reefers.

Its part of my reef ethics not to put anything metal in my tank. It might be inert, but ive seen triton tests with marine pure having elevated aluminum. Try and make a rock that is calcium based. Id put that in.

Cory, who's the new reefer I've been keeping reef tanks for over 30 years. If you don't put anything metal in your tank how do you keep your reef as there is metal in your pumps, heaters, wavemakers and glass is made with aluminium silicates. How do you now it was the MarinePure that did the impossible? As I know of one person who claimed it was his MarinePure that gave him alum readings on his Triton results only for it to be his heaterstat that was leaking.

 

[Cory]

Cory, who's the new reefer I've been keeping reef tanks for over 30 years. If you don't put anything metal in your tank how do you keep your reef as there is metal in your pumps, heaters, wavemakers and glass is made with aluminium silicates. How do you now it was the MarinePure that did the impossible? As I know of one person who claimed it was his MarinePure that gave him alum readings on his Triton results only for it to be his heaterstat that was leaking.

I wasnt calling you a new reefer. I was saying vodka isn't good for new reefers. Oh and ive been keeping tanks too for over 25 years. Good for you. But ive also been researching too, not just keeping tanks.

There is a big difference in iron and steel compared to aluminum toxicity. Nothing uses aluminum to any great extent. Thus it builds up. Lots of things use iron, especially algae for photosynthesis. Its not toxic.

About glass, sure aluminum is present in very small quantities. But compared to a brick of aluminum in your tank it's insignificant. Sorry poor argument.

If i were to use a metal heater it would be titanium because its impervious to change. However I use glass heaters when needed, no metal there. But i dont use a heater, its safer to warm the tank with excess heat from pumps and the heat in my home, which is pretty constant.

I really dont care what reefers put in their tanks, but id stay away from aluminum or any metal except titanium and iron. But if an aluminum block works then thats great.

If you want to know about aluminum ask Randy in the chem forum, im sure he will tell you it does leach aluminum.

 

[gus6464]

Level of denitrification with a marine pure block is affected by flow. Lower flow = more denitrification. The principle is the same for other media like matrix, siporax, brightwell xport, etc. I use a brightwell bio brick in my sump in wet dry config and it's denitrification efficiency is so good I have basically stopped using a skimmer. My buddy uses marine pure in his sump through a low flow area and he has a hard time keeping his nitrates up with no skimmer as well. Level of nitrification and denitrification is all relative to flow with these products.

Aerobic bacteria converts ammonia to nitrate and anaerobic bacteria consumes the nitrates. When using a marine pure block in the sump with the right amount of flow the bacteria in the outer area of the block will come in contact with oxygen and become aerobic while the bacteria in the inner portion of the block will be anaerobic and consume the nitrate.

 

[Maritimer]

I grabbed two of these (8x8x4) for my 220, and have been keeping one of them in the sump of my 65g for several weeks, during which time nitrates have dropped noticeably. (To be fair, I've been doing several things to lower nitrates in the rather heavily stocked 65 - No3-Po4-X, additional liverock, Vibrant...) When I get around to putting them into the big tank, I'll have one in the sump alongside the skimmer (fairly high flow/oxygen level) and the other, I'd like to hide among the liverock for a lower flow/denitrification effect. Does that all sound like a decent idea?

~Bruce

 

[edosan]

I have (and many others too) a frag tank sps dominated with nothing but MarinePure, and ceramic frag rack. No live rock, no sand.
80g tank. Sorry no pics for the moment. MP is a great biomedia product.

The tank on my signature have 4 blocks of MP, and corals are better than ever. CERO live rock, only dry tonga and pukani and bottle bacteria (one & only).

I use the big blocks only and they are very VERY easy to cut, just with a PVC saw and you are done.

Regarding Aluminum, I have test my 5 tanks with Triton Labs, and no Al, and I use MP in all of them.

 

[Jennie]

I have (and many others too) a frag tank sps dominated with nothing but MarinePure, and ceramic frag rack. No live rock, no sand.
80g tank. Sorry no pics for the moment. MP is a great biomedia product.

The tank on my signature have 4 blocks of MP, and corals are better than ever. CERO live rock, only dry tonga and pukani and bottle bacteria (one & only).

I use the big blocks only and they are very VERY easy to cut, just with a PVC saw and you are done.

Regarding Aluminum, I have test my 5 tanks with Triton Labs, and no Al, and I use MP in all of them.

How long does it take for the marine pure blocks or balls to be effective?

 

[edosan]

How long does it take for the marine pure blocks or balls to be effective?

MP pure or any Bacteria "housing" is not effective but itself, it will depend on the bacteria, if you do not add anything will take effect betwwen 30 to 60 days, if you add bacteria it will take less.

 

[satttheman]

Yes, they can be cut in half without any problem.

The 8"x8"x1" is rated at 100g so a single one of those should be more than enough since you also plan on keeping at least some of your live rock.

Thanks for the info. I was always curious what they were rated at.

 

[DBUK]

i heard that there are a few fake marine pure media on the market now and are even called marine pure i don't know how true this is but im told its the fakes that are releasing the Aluminium.

 

[andrew james]

If anyone lives in Atlanta i have about a 5 gallon bucket of spiralox or howecee you scan spell it in my sump if anyone wants to take it for free. Its been i there a year so alreasy fulk of the good stuff. Msg me if interested

 

[glb]

Randy did a study and they do cause elevated aluminum readings. I think what’s unknown is what effect if any this has on the tank. I have rock in my sump and it works just fine.

 

[Ross Petersen]

Level of denitrification with a marine pure block is affected by flow. Lower flow = more denitrification. The principle is the same for other media like matrix, siporax, brightwell xport, etc. I use a brightwell bio brick in my sump in wet dry config and it's denitrification efficiency is so good I have basically stopped using a skimmer. My buddy uses marine pure in his sump through a low flow area and he has a hard time keeping his nitrates up with no skimmer as well. Level of nitrification and denitrification is all relative to flow with these products.

Aerobic bacteria converts ammonia to nitrate and anaerobic bacteria consumes the nitrates. When using a marine pure block in the sump with the right amount of flow the bacteria in the outer area of the block will come in contact with oxygen and become aerobic while the bacteria in the inner portion of the block will be anaerobic and consume the nitrate.

Really good point I don't see discussed often - the role of anaerobic bacteria in converting nitrates eventually into gases that are released from the tank. It seems like this is a missing discussion point in the natural, and complete nitrogen cycle, we are trying to achieve. Any more insights or references on this? Thanks

 

[LOVEROCK]

I have (and many others too) a frag tank sps dominated with nothing but MarinePure, and ceramic frag rack. No live rock, no sand.
80g tank. Sorry no pics for the moment. MP is a great biomedia product.

The tank on my signature have 4 blocks of MP, and corals are better than ever. CERO live rock, only dry tonga and pukani and bottle bacteria (one & only).

I use the big blocks only and they are very VERY easy to cut, just with a PVC saw and you are done.

Regarding Aluminum, I have test my 5 tanks with Triton Labs, and no Al, and I use MP in all of them.

How long has no been inside ? I got a 60 frag any quite hard to scape

 

[AZMSGT]

Holy Zombie thread.

 

[NeverlosT]

lol. for what it is worth my test results showed high aluminum when I ran MP blocks, but I didnt really see any ill affects from it. I also didnt see much affect on my nitrates, so I pulled the blocks.

 

[av8soulfly]

I use the spheres in a rack built from egg crate. It works out great for cleaning, pull the rack and swish it around in your waste water during maintenance.

That's just how I do it in 3 of my tanks.

 

[av8soulfly]

Has anyone tried to cut the blocks? I may need to cut in half to make one fit. Wondering how difficult that is

I use the blocks as well as the spheres. The blocks are super easy to cut with pretty much any type of saw. You can also shape the blocks by rubbing them on concrete or sandpaper to fit in your sump. Obviously, a good idea to rinse the dust off before placing in aquarium water.

 

[andre wells]

I have minimal live rock in my system, i love marine pure, it works great for me

 

[Clinton]

Just ordered some to doctor my tank while curing DIY rock work and removing all me live rock.