Colin Gilboy
Community Member
I recently bought a Sicce Media Reactor, and I was wondering what would be the best thing to run in it. Pearls, Carbon, GFO?
Sicce Media reactor.
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P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
Run in it whatever your system needs. If you feel additional biological filtration is needed run bio beads. If you feel you have high levels of PO4, run GFO. If you feel you need impurities in your water remove or wish to have a clearer water column, run carbon. The beauty of the reactor is you can run any of the above and sometimes multiples of certain media in a single reactor. What you put in and run is determined by what your system needs.
Ron Reefman
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Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
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I had a reactor like that plumbed into my last 2 big systems (425g and 220g) but never saw the need to use it. If I had had a problem I have carbon, GFO and phosphate removal products sitting on a shelf... but I've never seen the need.
So my new system is a 40g DT with a 40g sump/fuge. This time I plumbed an extra outlet from the manifold with a gate valve, but I left the reactor on the shelf with the chemicals. That was over a year ago and I just had my RFA's deliver 20+ babies. I only change the filter sock about every 6 to 8 days (just before it starts to hold water inside deeper than the water it's hanging over) and I only do water changes every 6 to 8 weeks. Heck, on the 425g system I didn't do a water change for nearly 2 years. But that system had two 45g refugiums, a huge skimmer, a 45g DSB with 10" of sand and 100 extra pounds of live rock!
My advice is to set up your system so you can use the reactor if you need it and have the chemicals you might choose to run ready on the shelf. But there is no need to run any chemistry unless you see a real need for it. It's kind of like the over use of antibiotics use for humans.
So my new system is a 40g DT with a 40g sump/fuge. This time I plumbed an extra outlet from the manifold with a gate valve, but I left the reactor on the shelf with the chemicals. That was over a year ago and I just had my RFA's deliver 20+ babies. I only change the filter sock about every 6 to 8 days (just before it starts to hold water inside deeper than the water it's hanging over) and I only do water changes every 6 to 8 weeks. Heck, on the 425g system I didn't do a water change for nearly 2 years. But that system had two 45g refugiums, a huge skimmer, a 45g DSB with 10" of sand and 100 extra pounds of live rock!
My advice is to set up your system so you can use the reactor if you need it and have the chemicals you might choose to run ready on the shelf. But there is no need to run any chemistry unless you see a real need for it. It's kind of like the over use of antibiotics use for humans.
RobZilla04
Well-Known Member
As P-Dub said, run only what your system needs.
GFO if phosphates are high. Carbon if you want to polish (clarify) the water. You could use it as a nitrate media reactor if you chose as well (that media needs to tumble).
GFO if phosphates are high. Carbon if you want to polish (clarify) the water. You could use it as a nitrate media reactor if you chose as well (that media needs to tumble).
