Filter Floss in BRS Dual Reactor

[redfishbluefish]

I've only been running carbon in my BRS dual reactor....because I also run biopellets and didn't want the GFO to strip out all the phosphate. What I've noticed is that my carbon would clog up with detritus, and have to be cleaned out prematurely. I would usually run carbon for about two months, but could no longer get there..... maybe about a month or so. Note that I had been running the reactor with no canister in the GFO side of the reactor. Today I did a carbon change and decided to put the GFO canister back in with a little filter floss. Has anyone tried this? I also thought that the GFO canister alone with the two filter pads might be enough to filter the detritus, without the filter floss.

I'll keep an eye on it to see if flow slows, and if the filter floss becomes noticeably dirty.

 

[dbl]

Interesting idea Paul, curious how this turns out. I had the same clogging/binding issue with the carbon so I switched over to the Seachem Carbon Matrix. This happened over a year ago and have had no I'll effects from the switch. Just an idea and my experience so take it for what it's worth.

 

[hybridazn]

I've always run my dual brs on my frag system with just the foam pads and I can go around 2 months without having clogged carbon.

 

[chefjpaul]

A filter sock bracket of some sort would be cool.

 

[jent]

Your carbon wont last a month or two, even if it does not get visually clogged up. Bacteria growing on the surface will very quickly plug up the pores of carbon and make it almost useless.

I replace mine every two weeks, but I suspect it may be useless after even just a single week.

 

[Mike in CT]

Your carbon wont last a month or two, even if it does not get visually clogged up. Bacteria growing on the surface will very quickly plug up the pores of carbon and make it almost useless.

I replace mine every two weeks, but I suspect it may be useless after even just a single week.

This has been my understanding as well.
After a week or two, the small pores in the carbon are clogged with bacteria, greatly diminishing its abilities.