Marine pure ceramic biomedia

[bif24701]

Originally Posted by jason2459

Some believe the block itself reduces the nitrates. Where as it's the bacteria. Adding more rock would have achieved the same goal.

I agree. The blocks help control reduce nitrate production.


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[bif24701]

I do now this however for a fact. Not a single coral reacted in any way when I added the three MarinePure Blocks, additions separated by months.


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[A sea K]

Anyone see the latest BRS video on the marine pure blocks? It's both interesting and inconclusive at the same time. They will be re doing it in the future and I for one will be very interested in the results.

[tmz]

Another alternative or addition to live rock or sand surface area is Seachem matrix which consists of very pourous pebbles. I use them on some tanks that have little or no live rock.

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by tmz

Another alternative or addition to live rock or sand surface area is Seachem matrix which consists of very pourous pebbles. I use them on some tanks that have little or no live rock.

Yep, pumice stone. I have 4L of the pond matrix which are bigger that I'm playing with.

[niveknow]

I've been following this thread and now convinced to give it a good go. I don't have the space for a block, but will go with the spheres. The BRS video mentioned that while they "lost" the research logs, that the evidence is similar with the spheres and the blocks. Any recommendations as to to the amount on a 40B + 20 sump? I'll go slow and not introduce the full amount right away.

[chevegan]

Originally Posted by niveknow

I've been following this thread and now convinced to give it a good go. I don't have the space for a block, but will go with the spheres. The BRS video mentioned that while they "lost" the research logs, that the evidence is similar with the spheres and the blocks. Any recommendations as to to the amount on a 40B + 20 sump? I'll go slow and not introduce the full amount right away.

I don't think (at least I hope) anyone thinks it's the media doing the actual filtering.

The bigger this media is the better it will be at actual nitrate removal since it will have a lower oxygen zone in the middle. I use 1 of their medium sized rocks in my tank and register a true zero nitrate with the red sea ultra low test kit. You can use one of these as base rock. I wish I didn't have it in my nano since it takes up a bunch of real estate I could have used for frags lol. But it works SO well I'm keeping it. But since you have a 40 you can hide it as base.

The spheres work great at reducing nitrite and ammonia but they will just support the bacteria that does that and pump out nitrate which in turn will need to be removed. Algae scrubber, bio-pellets, nopox - they will all work. Nopox is great since you can get it down to a science and keep the nitrates and phosphates exactly where you want long term with less guess work. my 2 cents

oo I should mention that with nopox you need a skimmer. ok now that's my 2 cents

[paal]

I have been running a 4x4x2 block in the sump of my 100g for 7-8 months now. Tank is just over 1 year old.
Nitates eventually went from "high-ish" (don't have my log with me atm) to close to zero.

For quite some time now I have measured 0 nitrates with salifert, so I am planning to remove the marinepure during the maintenance this weekend. According to lab tests (MarinLab), it seems that the block is leeching aluminium. No harm is done from what I can tell, but if I don't really need the block anymore for nitrate control, then I would like to stay on the safe side and just pull it out VS simply "feeding more / adding more nitrates.

This is probably a silly question, but...: Let's say I take it out and store it dry. Later i find out that nitrates are getting too high and I want it back in my system. Would the block then have to be "cured"/"cooked" etc.. or would it be safe to just dump it back in the sump directly?

[hubble]

I've had the marine pure (spheres) in my tank since setup in january. My nitrates and phos. have always stayed at 0 with small spikes here and there. Recently removed the spheres and within 2 weeks my nitrates are .50 and phos. is at .18

[ReefWreak]

Originally Posted by paal

This is probably a silly question, but...: Let's say I take it out and store it dry. Later i find out that nitrates are getting too high and I want it back in my system. Would the block then have to be "cured"/"cooked" etc.. or would it be safe to just dump it back in the sump directly?

Not a silly question at all. I would bleach it or soak it in 50/50 vinegar/water solution for a few days, with a few rinses and re-cleaning in between, to get rid of any organics on the block. I know when I pulled my block out after 8-10 months, it was covered in detritus, sponges, bristleworms, and other life. I'll definitely bleach mine before using it again.

[gabloo]

Hmm. May be i should give it a go. I have been holding out on this.

[bertoni]

Bleaching the block or soaking it in some vinegar seems like a reasonable idea to me. Removing any organics should help when adding the item back into a tank by reducing any decay. If I used bleach, I might end with a vinegar soak to neutralize any remaining sodium hypochlorite, although drying the block thoroughly would do the job just as well.

[paal]

Thanks a lot ReefWreak and bertoni.

I've always used a filter sock, so my sump is very clean.
Still, I will follow your advice if I ever return the block. (removed it an hour ago)

ReefWreak; why did you pull yours out?

[bertoni]

You're welcome. Good luck!

[djbon]

Any porous inert rocks will work on nutrient reduction. I have mine in chambers and I don't even need a skimmer, GFO or refugium for nutrients export. You can increase efficiency by carbon dosing and creates a perfect environment for bacteria to complete nirtogen cycles with very minimal amount of rocks.

[catman78]

I've had an 8x8x4 block in sump for around a month.
120 main 40 sump 100lbs LR
6 fish, 2 cubes a day. Almost bare bottom. Filter sock 24/7

Have yet to see drop in N. N is around 15-20.

Should I add another block yet?

[EvMiBo]

Originally Posted by catman78

I've had an 8x8x4 block in sump for around a month.
120 main 40 sump 100lbs LR
6 fish, 2 cubes a day. Almost bare bottom. Filter sock 24/7

Have yet to see drop in N. N is around 15-20.

Should I add another block yet?

I don't think it would hurt, but I really think it takes a little longer for the bacteria to colonize it to a point where they start eating nitrates. It's been a while but I think closer to 3 months is when I saw drops from ~20ppm NO3 to <1ppm.

[catman78]

thanks for info. Will wait then.
Reading back in thread it seems 1 s/b enough for my needs.

[EvMiBo]

It should be but I've seen people that have 2 in similar volume. I don't think it would hurt to add anther but I don't find it necessary unless you have a very high bioload, which is doesn't seem like you do. With moderate bioloads like most of us have I wonder if block bacteria would compete with one another, and if some would starve off... Again, unnecessary in most cases!


I have a 135g display with only 15g in sump. With displacement my net volume is 130g. I've had the same block for a couple years now.

[zoeth]

Just an FYI for everyone considering Brightwell vs MarinePure: The MarinePure I have is definitely brittle and even holding it can cause your finger pressure to break some, however once you get it situated and don't mess with it too much it is fine.

The Brightwell blocks are just as brittle but even once they were situated in the sump they still crumbled. They deteriorated over the past couple months to nothing more than a pile of sand. Tried removing the remnants of the block and it fell apart in hand like holding sand. The sump is now a mess and I am not too happy.

I should have read through the reviews on BRS first, it has a 1 star review with many people saying the same thing.

[bertoni]

That's a poor product if it does that regularly. How much flow did the sump have?

[jason2459]

There are reports that Brightwell had a defect and are replacing bricks that do that. I would try and contact them.

[ReefCowboy]

Wow that blows. I just got two No3 bricks and was planning to use them. To be honest Im kind of over these medias. Marine pure has proven Al issues and brightwell crumbles. Not good at all.

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by ReefCowboy

Wow that blows. I just got two No3 bricks and was planning to use them. To be honest Im kind of over these medias. Marine pure has proven Al issues and brightwell crumbles. Not good at all.

I've also shown increase in Al from Brightwell's media as well which was expected as it's a ceramic product as well.

[ReefCowboy]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I've also shown increase in Al from Brightwell's media as well which was expected as it's a ceramic product as well.

That upsets me because I talked to the brightwell rep for an hour at reefapalooza this year and he mentioned many times their brick would lot leach Al.
So here I am $65 bucks later spent on these yellow soon to be Al leaching dust pilles and will not use them because they do what he denied.
Crappy way to sell products. I also heard Marinepure would soon be addressing the Al issue and we get no clarification or anything.