Clearmax

[bukboi]

hello, I was wondering if any of you have used Fluval clearmax inside a media reactor? I’m very curious to as it would work just as good as GFO.

 

[geologeek]

I've never used it, but always wondered how it differed from GFO as it is a "special resin". Just always assumed they used up the power left from their supply chain of GFO and bound it up in a resin to make it in clumps???

Unless someone has used it and can offer their experience, you can either give it a go, and as with everything go slowly with a little added and see the results, or stick with GFO as it's probably cheaper.

 

[bukboi]

I've never used it, but always wondered how it differed from GFO as it is a "special resin". Just always assumed they used up the power left from their supply chain of GFO and bound it up in a resin to make it in clumps???

Unless someone has used it and can offer their experience, you can either give it a go, and as with everything go slowly with a little added and see the results, or stick with GFO as it's probably cheaper.

I might just cut it open and try it in my new media reactor from innovative marine. I will post results. I’m currently at .60 phos Lol. I added the bag last night under my skimmer in my Red Sea, but it seemed to have jumped up .02 from .58 last night. Could’ve been the pellets I fed this morning.. I have a mixed reef, all the corals & fish are doing fine.. but the glass algae is persistent.

 

[geologeek]

Just be careful to go slowly and add half of the suggested amount at first and see how it does. The reactor is going to increase its efficacy and you don't want to bottom out your phosphate........it zero for too long and you risk a dinoflagellate outbreak.

Go slowly my friend.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I think it is just GFO trapped in a polymer. There have been similar products in the past. I do not believe the claims relating to nitrate will work in seawater.

 

[bishoptf]

I think it is just GFO trapped in a polymer. There have been similar products in the past. I do not believe the claims relating to nitrate will work in seawater.

I'd really love kento know if clearmax is just gfo in a polymer. I can only use media bags and have been using phosguard to bring phosphate down but I know based on @Randy Holmes-Farley results that it can leach aluminum. I would like to go with some form of gfo that works in a media bag like phosguard and the clearmax looks big enough that is should work but id like to know if it really is gfo. I emailed them and asked for the msds information but still do not see GFO mentioned anywhere in the document but it looks like GFO. @Randy Holmes-Farley can you take a look at the attached and see what you think?

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That SDS doesn’t say anything useful about what it is. Do you have it now? What color is it?

 

[bishoptf]

That SDS doesn’t say anything useful about what it is. Do you have it now? What color is it?

I do have it on hand and it looks like brown pellets. Pretty much like looks like this picture, see attached. I think its gfo but would be nice if they would just say what it is ..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do have it on hand and it looks like brown pellets. Pretty much like looks like this picture, see attached. I think its gfo but would be nice if they would just say what it is ..

I cannot think of anything else is its likely to be. :)

 

[bishoptf]

I cannot think of anything else is its likely to be. :)

Thanks, that was my thought but not of lot of information out there and always leary of stuff that im not sure about.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Old thread, but figured I'd chime in.

has anybody else ever tried Clearmax in a reactor?

Clearmax has been on sale lately on Amazon for dirt cheap. Far cheaper than any other form of GFO available, so I figured I'd order some to try out. Got 2.65 lbs for $21! Like I said, dirt cheap compared to regular GFO which is usually $30 to $35 per lb.

it comes in pre-measured 100g filter bags. I guess the idea is you just throw a bag in your sump/media basket/filter, but I wanted to tumble it in a reactor. My $21 got me (12) of the 100g bags.
So I cut open the first bag of it and dumped it into my reactor. started adding water to rinse it and very first observation was that 40% of it sank as expected, but 60% of it floated. like really floated! like little foam pebbles. very buoyant. Rinsed it good hoping the floating stuff just had trapped air or something... nope. even after rinsing it for a good bit, all the floating bits just kept floating. When you seal up the reactor, 40% of it is on the bottom and 60% of it is floating at the very top of the reactor chamber. Flip it upside down, shake it, doesn't matter. The sinking stuff sinks, the floating stuff stays floating. Ended up running it in the reactor anyway hoping the floating bits would eventually start sinking after being sealed up and water pumped through it for a bit. But no, after 12 hours, no change at all. 40% of it is at the bottom at a gentle tumble while 60% of it is firmly floating (bricked) at the top with no movement. Not ideal for GFO.

and before anybody tells me it's a flow issue in the reactor, it's not. The floating bits just stay floating even with no flow. You can't get the floating stuff to sink or tumble at all.
it just stays bricked at the top of the reactor chamber with no movement.

The stuff is dirt cheap right now compared to regular GFO, but not having much luck with it in my reactor.
I may dump in another bag and then scoop out all the stuff that floats, leaving just the stuff that sinks.
The stuff that sinks seems fine in the reactor. I'm able to get that to a nice gentle tumble without any problem. It's just the floating bits, which unfortunately is 60% of it, doesn't work in a reactor.

hopefully the rest of it isn't as bad as the first bag.

Even if I'm able to only use 40% of it, and throw 60% out. it still seams cheaper than regular GFO.
2.65 lbs x 40% = 1.06 lbs. for $21. so still 1/3 cheaper than GFO.

hopefully it has the same or better PO4 binding capability too.

Anybody else try this too?