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#33
10-28-2016, 05:15 PM
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I ran an 8x8x4 block in my sump for about 2.5 months. No real changes to the tank as far as feeding,livestock or maintenance goes during that time. I had a very large spike in Nitrates. Started to dose the tank with NOPOX and just last week pulled the MarinePure block. Nitrates have started to drop finally. Could be the NOPOX making them drop....maybe it was the block generating NO3. I am not sure. I have read others that claim that the blocks can become nitrate factories if not put in a high flow area. Mine was in a low flow area of my sump.
Others love the block and swear by it. Mine is out of the tank and now sits in a bucket awaiting its fate!
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125 gallon Oceanic mixed reef, Maxspect 150, MP 40QD x 2, EShopps 300R Refugium, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2x Kessil AP700's, JBJ ATO with Advanced Acrylics ATO reservoir, Apex Next Gen with Neptune dosing pumps....and a bunch of other stuff including a lot of joy...and equal amounts of frustration! 
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#34
10-28-2016, 06:12 PM
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Quote:
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#35
10-28-2016, 06:30 PM
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No ill effects on the fish and inverts, SPS have great color but crappy polyp extension and seem to have stagnated in their growth. LPS are still doing well. Not sure what the NO3 spike was from as the tank is now 2 years old and feeding and maintenance is consistent. The block was added, then about a month or so after adding, my Nitrate went up. thought it was a faulty test kit as I was always close to Zero testing with API. To be sure I bought another API and a Salifert. Both API test kits are now binned as my results were all over the map between the two API kits. I personally think it was the block that caused the NO3 swing...only because it was in a very low flow spot in the sump. I believe it needs to be in a high flow area so it can get good flow through the whole block.
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125 gallon Oceanic mixed reef, Maxspect 150, MP 40QD x 2, EShopps 300R Refugium, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2x Kessil AP700's, JBJ ATO with Advanced Acrylics ATO reservoir, Apex Next Gen with Neptune dosing pumps....and a bunch of other stuff including a lot of joy...and equal amounts of frustration! Last edited by Tankboy; 10-28-2016 at 06:33 PM.
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#36
10-28-2016, 08:10 PM
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I scoured the internet for information on MarinePure and ended up purchasing both the brick and spheres from reefsupplies.ca. To answer your question, the material itself is so porous that it will crumble if you apply too much force with your grip. You can very easily cut it with a steak or bread knife but I would recommend using a hacksaw – this is something that can be done and cleaned up in 10 minutes.
As for aluminum leaching, there are too many reports in my opinion to call it coincidence. That being said, the dose makes the poison with anything and so long as a person minimizes their risk I still believe it's a relatively safe product. I rinsed and soaked it for a week in prime before adding it slowly to my sump and haven't observed any detrimental effects. I have yet to find any real quantified data for the effectiveness of MarinePure. I don't believe it is a miracle product but should rather be thought as a supplement to liverock. Where I think a lot of people overlook its value is in the bricks' potential to host denitrifying bacteria. My reasoning goes something like this… We all know that larger tanks offer more stability and capacity for bioload. The larger water volume itself, doesn't really offer much other than the principle of concentration/dilution. So it seems fair to think that a significant portion of the stability comes from having more surface area in sand or liverock. Now, the issue with maximizing surface area is that for the first stages of the nitrogen cycle, carbon is often the limiting factor – this is where carbon dosing intervenes. But for the later stages, where nitrate is finally converted into nitrogen gas it is theorized that anaerobic sites are the limiting factor – this is where large bricks like the 8x8x4" MarinePure blocks are thought to intervene. All that put in short terms, I bought the MarinePure block for an area of low flow in my sump in hopes that it will aid in controlling nitrates and I bought the spheres for the chamber of my sump where I dose my carbon source in hope that the bacteria will grow on their surface then spill downstream into my skimmer – thus aid in controlling phosphates. I've had this all in place for about 2 weeks and I'll post a picture once I'm home. What do you guys think? is this a reasonable thought process or a far stretch where I've fallen victim to marketing?
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#37
10-29-2016, 12:53 AM
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I fought high nitrates for over a year. In the 20-25 range no matter what I did. Tried bio pellets tried vinegar dosing. Still in the 20's. Finally tried a marine pure block in my sump.
Now 2-3 months later nitrates are below 5 for the first time ever. Still dosing vinegar but it's the block that has made a difference. When I first placed block in my sump, my scans were ****ed off for 3-4 days, shrunk down and stayed closed up. But then slowly expanded and seem none the worse for wear. I am convinced that it has made a positive difference in my tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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