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How to Guide for Salt Water Arium and Reef Tanks Chemical Filtration

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2024 6:45 pm
by admin
If properly used, chemical filtration can be highly beneficial to your saltwater aquarium. However, if overused or used incorrectly, it can lead to a tank crash and a quick exit from the hobby. We will just be scratching the surface in this video, so to learn more about the science behind chemical filtration, as well as how to properly set up and use media reactors, check out some amazing videos we've already made. We will put some links to our favorites down below.

All right, I'm ready! Are you ready? Let's get you all the information you need to know to successfully use chemical filtration.

So, what is chemical filtration? Simply put, it is the use of chemical media to remove certain unwanted things from the water column. By far, the two most common types of chemical media we use in this hobby are granular ferric oxide (GFO) and activated carbon. There are many types of different chemical medias out there, from GFO to activated carbon, like we already mentioned, to Purigen and different types of resins. But honestly, today we're just going to focus on GFO and carbon because those probably comprise 95% of the kinds of chemical media we use in this hobby.

There's a fantastic video that Ryan made way back in 2013 called "Chemical Filtration Media," so if you want to know all the science behind GFO and activated carbon, check it out. We'll link it below.

First up, we have activated carbon, which is really good at removing certain dissolved organics from the water column, such as chlorine, chloramines, smells, colors, and certain medications. GFO, or granular ferric oxide, is fantastic at removing phosphates from the water column. There are several other products that we're just not going to dive into today. Most of these products, such as Chemipure from Boy Enterprises or Purigen from Brightwell Aquatics, are a mixture of different kinds of chemical media. Sometimes they're just a mix of carbon and GFO, but other times they add in other medias, such as Purigen or different kinds of resins.

Don't get me wrong; these products can be absolutely fantastic for you in this hobby, but as beginners, we just want to start with the basics, and that is, of course, activated carbon and GFO.

Why is Chemical Filtration Important?

Chemical filtration can be an important weapon in the arsenal, but just like with any weapon, if you don't use it correctly, it can cause a lot of damage. For example, sometimes using chemical filtration is the only way to remove certain things from your water column. If you live in some sort of big city center, oftentimes your public water system is packed with chlorine and chloramines, and the only way to remove those is with activated carbon.

Another example is that, over time, your water will turn slightly yellow, and you could either remove that through gigantic water changes, or you could throw in some activated carbon, and it will absorb those tannins in the water.

Do You Need Chemical Filtration?

Most of the time, the answer is no; you do not need chemical filtration. However, there are times when it can be helpful. Honestly, for most beginners out there, unless you know exactly what you're doing, using chemical filtration can cause more harm than good. I currently have eight tanks in my gallery, and none of them are currently using any form of chemical filtration. But that being said, every single one of my tanks has either used chemical filtration or is going to use chemical filtration.

Just take, for example, my Innovative Marine 14-gallon peninsula tank. There's just a ton of hair algae growing right now, and that just means my phosphate levels are too high. I've been feeding less, only frozen foods, and I've been changing out my mechanical filtration frequently, but it's still too high. So, for that tank, what I'm going to do as part of my regimen is to use a very small amount of GFO to lower those phosphates to really tackle that hair algae outbreak.

While I don't run activated carbon all the time, every single one of my tanks will be running activated carbon at some point in the future because it really does freshen up the tank. It removes a whole bunch of smells and makes that water crystal clear that you just can't get without using it. So, no, you don't need chemical media to be successful in this hobby, but as you progress and get more and more knowledgeable, you will find there will be times when using activated carbon and granular ferric oxide will be hugely beneficial to you.

There are really only two ways to use chemical media: either you put it in a media bag, or you put it in a media reactor. Media bags come in different sizes as well as different micron densities, from something that has a really porous micron density for using something like ceramic media to something that has a much tighter mesh for using activated carbon or granular ferric oxide.

Rather than get hugely confused by it, I would just go to the Bulk Reef Supply website and pick up a few different sizes of their 200-micron media bags, and that's going to be perfect for most uses.

For media bags to be effective, they really need to be placed in a high-flow area of your tank because the only way filtration media works is if water passes through it. So, if you place this in a part of your tank that has almost no water movement, it's not going to have a chance to interact with the media. These are usually placed in super high-flow areas, like in a rear filtration chamber, maybe right after the filter sock, so all the water has to pass through it. Or, if you have some sort of acrylic cavity, you can put it just after your mechanical filtration, or if you have a sump, you can put it right after your filter sock or directly on the other side of a baffle so that the water will cascade over that baffle and interact with the media.

One thing to know here: if you do use a media bag and not a reactor, you usually have to double the amount of media you use because it just doesn't use the media as effectively as a reactor does. Reactors are a bit more complicated to set up, but they use media much more efficiently than a media bag does.

I think the easiest way to get going with a media reactor is to just buy one of these kits. They have a couple of different sizes, and they come with the reactor and the pump and the flexible tubing to get you up and going. I have personally used both of these—the larger size and the smaller size—for five years now, and they're still running fantastic.

You might be wondering why reactors are more effective than using filter bags, and it's because reactors actively force water through using a pump, whereas using a media bag is much more passive. This will actively force water through, thus forcing the interaction between the water column and the media inside the reactor.

Now, for a lot of you out there, you might not have a sump, and using one of these would either be some sort of difficult external plumbing job, or it's just not feasible. But lucky for all of us in the hobby, media reactors have morphed, and you can either get media reactors that hang on the side of your tank or that are small enough to fit in most rear filtration chambers. So, there's going to pretty much be an option out there for all tanks.

Can You Chemically Filter Your Water Too Much?

Absolutely, yes, you can. While it may be hard to overuse activated carbon, you can definitely overuse GFO. I remember thinking back to when I started in this hobby, and I was watching Bulk Reef Supply videos on granular ferric oxide and reactors. I thought, "Hey, if using a small amount of GFO is good, then using a large amount of GFO must be better," right? Definitely not! That was an incredibly incorrect assumption I made.

When it comes to using activated carbon, while I don't use it constantly, you could probably use a small amount of activated carbon in your tank at all times. The thing about activated carbon is it gets used up much quicker. GFO can last for several weeks or even for a month, but to really get the benefit of activated carbon, you're probably going to want to add a small amount and change it out every week. Activated carbon can be fantastic for your tank; it can reduce those smells and keep your water crystal clear.

So, can you over-chemically filter your water? Absolutely, you can! But when it comes to using activated carbon, you probably would be fine using a small amount of it all the time. When it comes to using granular ferric oxide (GFO), you can absolutely use too much, so start out with a small amount and only increase the amount if needed.

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