Use of 2 medias in 1 reactor

[fishytime]

not really.....carbon and GFO both have different optimal flow rates

[whatcaneyedo]

GFO wont necessarily be used up before the carbon. That all depends on what your present phosphate level is. If its quite high the GFO could become saturated within a couple of days. The same can be said about carbon. If your tank has a lot of dissolved organic compounds, a high bioload and the water is quite yellow the carbon could become clogged pretty fast.

The whole argument of how much to use and when to change it give me a headache. My own advice is to start off using a minimal amount of each and adjust if necessary.

I personally just use one cup of each in separate TLF reactors which I change out monthly on my 220gal system. The water is extremely clear and phosphates have been undetectable with simple test kits for the past two years. The reason I keep them separated is because I dont want too much flow through the carbon which would cause it to fluidized and grind together to create fines. But I do want just enough flow through the GFO to create a little bit of agitation at the surface because that is what the manufacturer recommends. For me this seems like the optimal way to do things.

This topic has been discussed a few times before. Try doing a search and you'll find much more information.

[Jackie]

What about 2 reactor with one pump?
Will it work?

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Jackie

What about 2 reactor with one pump?
Will it work?

nope.....impossible to get the optimal flow to both medias....

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by fishytime

nope.....impossible to get the optimal flow to both medias....

Couldn't you have a valve on the inlet of each reactor and adjust the flow that way?

[viperfish]

Originally Posted by fishytime

nope.....impossible to get the optimal flow to both medias....

Not impossible at all. J&L sells a TLF kit which consists of two reactors and one MJ pump http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tf...o+Package.html. I know quite a few people who have run this configuration and it works just fine.

[no_bs]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Of course it would. As long as the pump is powerful enough to pump water through both. You could tee both reactors off of the same pump and individually control the flow through each or daisy chain the two together which would mean the flow through each would be the same. In both cases you'd at least be able to change the media independently when it became exhausted.

Two reactors T'd off of one pump (not to be confused with two girls and one cup) each with its own ball valve for individual flow control.

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

Not impossible at all. J&L sells a TLF kit which consists of two reactors and one MJ pump http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tf...o+Package.html. I know quite a few people who have run this configuration and it works just fine.

Exactly

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

whatcaneyedo's methods works but this is not the way 90% of people run two reactors of one pump.

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tf...o+Package.html. I know quite a few people who have run this configuration and it works just fine.

this way doesnt work....unfortunately most people run the reactors in series in which case its impossible to get the right flow to the right media.....its like "It dont matter where you pinch the garden hose.....its gonna slow the flow to the whole hose"....

[whatcaneyedo]

Of course it would. As long as the pump is powerful enough to pump water through both. You could tee both reactors off of the same pump and individually control the flow through each or daisy chain the two together which would mean the flow through each would be the same. In both cases you'd at least be able to change the media independently when it became exhausted.

Two reactors T'd off of one pump (not to be confused with two girls and one cup) each with its own ball valve for individual flow control.

[Funky_Fish14]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Two reactors T'd off of one pump (not to be confused with two girls and one cup)

Hahaha... Funny you threw in that clarrification