Carbon in filter sock? or in a chamber?

[Milad]

Which is better, throwing carbon in a filter sock or in a bag in one of the chambers of the sump?

also how often should it be replaced? im reading i should take it out after few days and just do carbon once a month.

[lorenz0]

filter sock will be useless to run carbon in but if you used a media bag its ok. i did this for 2 years with rowa phos

[fishytime]

buy a reactor......much more efficient use of carbon:wink:

[Milad]

why would it be useless? isnt it same thing as putting it into a media bag then into the filter sock?

[Milad]

but a reactor......much more efficient use of carbon:wink:

reactors is more pumps/plumbing/cost i dont have room in the sump anyways for more ****!

[kien]

I've never done it myself but I'd imagine cleaning carbon out of a filter sock would be a royal pain.. Plus you'd have to keep an eye on your sock for overflow because carbon would likely escape the sock and into your sump in that event.

Pumps for reactors like the Two Little Fishes are small. A maxijet 400 or 600 could run it just fine and they don't take up a lot of room. Or, 'T' off your return line to feed reactors. TLF reactors are pretty cheap in my opinion. Sometimes you can get them used. They can hang on the outside of your sump.

Was there a particular reason why you have chosen to go with a Calcium reactor over a dosing station to dose calcium?

[Zoaelite]

+1 with Kein on the Calcium reactor, maybe it's just me but I don't trust highly pressurized metal containers around corrosive salt water, panels of glass and $1000's of dollars worth of livestock.

[Milad]

what is the dosing station?
i got the calcium reactor for very good price in a package deal

[kien]

fancy pumps that look something like this (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=460858&postcount=164) used to dose (pump) Alkaline, Calcium, and Magnesium concentrated solutions (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php) into your tank to keep your levels up. Certainly not a requirement, but if you plan on using a Calcium Reactor, a dosing station would be an alternative to that with added benefits. I too have an irrational fear of pressurized gas canisters in the house. :lol:

[Zoaelite]

A dosing station uses peristaltic dosing pumps and supply reservoirs of chemicals to maintain your levels. For example my bubble magus dosing station doses 2.08ml of both CA & ALK solution 12 times daily to add 25 ml of both solutions. The third one doses 2ml of Mg twice for a total of 4ml, so far it has been working flawlessly.

[Milad]

ya ive seen those but they look to sketchy for me. small little things putting concentrated chemicals into my tank... i dunno... plus they are pricey.

[Madreefer]

You don't need to put it in a filtersock, won't be fun trying to pick that out come time to change. It would be a waste of money putting in new carbon every couple of days when it's time to clean them. You can buy media bags and fill them yourself. Just putting the bag in your sump will not harm anything but a reactor is way more effective.

[christyf5]

LOL, you guys, there is nothing wrong with a calcium reactor :razz: Dosing pumps are just all the rage now. I have had both and both definitely have their pros and cons (although I'm liking the dosing pump better).

As for carbon, I wouldn't run it directly in the filter sock, I'd put it in a mesh bag first. Unless of course the filter sock and mesh bag you're talking about are the same thing. If you're looking to not have to buy a reactor, putting it in the mesh bag and then the filter sock I think would be your best option as the flow going through the filter sock likely provide as much flow as a reactor. Having it in a mesh bag allows you to yank it out and dispose of it much easier than just having it loose inside the filter sock (believe me I've tried it and its so much more convenient). That being said, I did end up buying another phosban reactor just for carbon but I have lots of room for that stuff in my sump.

[kien]

small little things putting concentrated chemicals into my tank.

That is part of the allure of dosing stations :lol:

[christyf5]

That is part of the allure of dosing stations :lol:

plus they're neat-o! :wink: