Which reactor do you prefer?

Jurg · Dec 26, 2014

I'm curious which reactors you all use and what you like about your reactor. I'm in the market for 2 reactors for my new 290g build. I'm looking to run GFO in one and carbon in another.

I've read good things on the mr1 and vertex, just not sure if they are worth the extra money.

Let me know what you all think

Thanks.

Reefnjunkie · Dec 26, 2014

I converted my old Aquamaxx Bio Pellet reactor into a GFO reactor because I needed the extra size but have since started using it for carbon..

IME, no the extra money is not worth it for a GFO or Carbon -the two little fishies I would suspect would work perfectly fine for a tank of your size- I needed the larger size since I'm closer to 700 gallons and was using 14 cups of ROX grade GFO

Invest in a neck Swabbie and kick but skimmer and you may not need a GFO reactor-I pulled my GFO reactor off line months ago.

Another option for PO4 control is "Reef Interests PO 4x4" super strong stuff and it works well be careful with it though it's nuclear strength I used about 5 tabkespoons for 700 gallons

Long answer, short version -save your money for other equipment those fancy reactors are a plastic tube with an input and output LOL

Jurg · Dec 26, 2014

I already have a bubble king supermarin 250 for this. I'll check out that neck swabbie though, I haven't one of those before.

Saving money would always be a good thing. I liked using the BRS in the past vs the TLF though. Maybe just stick with that one.

ReeferBee · Dec 26, 2014

I am a fan of geo reactors

Gazog2 · Jan 5, 2015

As far as I am concerned the BRS dual reactor is the only way to go, both in cost and in simplicity of use.

gtbarsi · Jan 5, 2015

I like the "BRS" / canister style reactor that uses a cartridge that can be swapped out. That way you can prep a backup set, and make the media changes fast. I prefer two single reactors to the dual since it allows for better control of the flow / tumble.

After that if I had a system that need more media I would probably go with the Avast You Build media reactor kit, since you can customize it however you want. The people at Avast seem to be willing to help you customize things as much as you want. You could make a extra tall MR5 so the media was stacked up vertically,giving you longer media contact time with out having to dial back the flow rate. Or if you were vertically limited for space, and needed a lot of media in the reactor you could build a MR16 shortie.

eranschau · Jan 5, 2015

I'm running a BRS single-canister reactor on my 75g. Started as GFO only, but was having trouble getting an appropriate amount of tumble so I switched to combined GFO/carbon. Since the GFO lasts longer than the carbon, I use less of it and replace it more often. Works great!

dfm34 · Jan 5, 2015

+1 on avast marine

gtbarsi said:
I would probably go with the Avast You Build media reactor kit, since you can customize it however you want. The people at Avast seem to be willing to help you customize things as much as you want. You could make a extra tall MR5 so the media was stacked up vertically,giving you longer media contact time with out having to dial back the flow rate. Or if you were vertically limited for space, and needed a lot of media in the reactor you could build a MR16 shortie.

gtbarsi · Jan 6, 2015

eranschau said:
I'm running a BRS single-canister reactor on my 75g. Started as GFO only, but was having trouble getting an appropriate amount of tumble so I switched to combined GFO/carbon. Since the GFO lasts longer than the carbon, I use less of it and replace it more often. Works great!

+1 If you can manage both GFO and carbon in a single it is definitely the easiest / most consistent way to do things.

Additionally you can buy a extra reactor cartridge and fill it ahead of time. That makes the media change really easy, and the only part of the media change that is wet, is when you are dumping the media out of the old cartridge after the swap. Then you can rinse it and let it dry before adding new media to it before your next maintenance cycle.

Quinn123 · Jan 6, 2015

does anyone have any experience on the the vertex rx-z zeolith media reactor?

AZDesertRat · Jan 6, 2015

The Spectrapure dual canister type reactor is a much better choice since it allows you to control the flow in each canister individually. GFO and carbon have both different flow requirements and different useful lives so being able to regulate the flow or even take one or the other out of service without affecting the other is a big bonus. You couls do the same with the BRS unit but would need to invest additional $$ on fittings and valves that already come with the Spectrapure.

gtbarsi · Jan 6, 2015

If you need / want separate reactor canisters for GFO & Carbon check the pricing. The last time I checked the Spectapure is more than a BRS dual, and the same cost as two BRS singles.

Personally I would rather run 100% of the flow of the 1/2" line through all of the media rather than a % of it like the Spectapure does. In addition if you have the water volume to need to run the reactor canisters at or near the maximum capacity you will probably want to feed each of them with their own 1/2 line.

AZDesertRat · Jan 6, 2015

GFO and carbon are soft medias and grind themselves to dust with too much velocity thus the adjustable flows. Spectrapure has the right idea. Again research pays off, they don't bring anything to market without real world, long term testing. Yes, it is more expensive that the BRS dual because it has more components in the fittings and valves.

Myself I have found I like the TLF Phosban 150 reactors which I have plumbed in a similar arrangement with individual valves so they can be controlled independently of each other while fed with a single MJ powerhead. The clear body makes it easy to see the media inside and they hold much more media than my 100G mixed reef needs.

StikHedRon · Jan 6, 2015

I would say the spectrapure dual canisters blows the BRS one away just for the fact that you have control over the flow to each canister separately!!

Mercurio · Jan 6, 2015

I run 2 NextReef MR-1's on my 210 gallon and I love them. I bought the package that had the tubing and pump included. It is very quick and easy to change the media in them and I've never had any leak issues. The pumps that came with them are very easy to adjust as well.