Carbon & GFO mix in single reactor

JediCruz · Aug 22, 2021

I just received my BRS single Carbon and GFO reactor. First I’ll state that I have no room for a dual reactor otherwise I would have bought that instead. When mixing in a single reactor, the BRS videos recommend a mix 1/3 GFO to 2/3 carbon. But in the documentation that came with the reactor they recommend a mix of the recommended amount of carbon from the BRS Calculator app and half the recommended amount of GFO. So the recommended carbon for my tank is .59 cups and GFO is 1.48 cups which would translate to about .75 cups of mixing it. The BRSTV vids guide would have it be .59 Carbon and .295 of GFO. What is the correct mix?

vetteguy53081 · Aug 22, 2021

Go 95% carbon and 5% GFO
FERROUS OXIDE is very strong and should be used somewhat sparingly

New&no clue · Aug 22, 2021

Check the date on the video. Some of those are older while some have been updated more recently. If it’s one of the older videos I’d go with the instructions that come with it. If it’s a newer video I’d go with the that.

At the end of the day all tanks are different and you will have to adjust the amount to your tanks needs.

JediCruz · Aug 22, 2021

New&no clue said:
Check the date on the video. Some of those are older while some have been updated more recently. If it’s one of the older videos I’d go with the instructions that come with it. If it’s a newer video I’d go with the that.

At the end of the day all tanks are different and you will have to adjust the amount to your tanks needs.

So the oldest video from BRS stating the 2/3 Carbon 1/3 GFO mix is from 9 years ago but they restated that mixture a year ago in this video (19:12 mark):

JediCruz · Aug 22, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
Go 95% carbon and 5% GFO
FERROUS OXIDE is very strong and should be used somewhat sparingly

My phosphates were at .25 ppm. Would that be enough?

The Lumpster · Aug 22, 2021

I mix Rox 0.8 and high cap GFO in the same filter bag all the time. I have done it for years with no problem. I use the recommended amounts on the side of the BRS containers the carbon and GFO comes in.