For user of Lifereef Media Canisters

[MickeyCT]

What have you found to be the best way to get the used carbon out of these canisters? It doesn't dump or shake out easily.

I used these canisters almost 20 years ago and gave up on them as they were a pain. Fast forward to now and the canisters are a little bigger so I thought I'd give them a try with my new Lifereef sump project. (They look much nicer in the sump than the BRS reactors.) Well, I still find it a pain to get used carbon to come out without making a mess. I'm hoping someone has some tips for me other than using a spoon to just scoop it all out.

 

[lapin]

Put a filter pad in first. Tie a piece of fishing line to the pad. Pull the pad out when changing media?

 

[areefer01]

Not sure I understand actually as they are pretty simple since they are connected to the manifold via a union. Just undo the union, lift out and set into bucket (I place in a 1 gallon bucket to move to work area), shake, rinse, and Bob is your uncle. Pretty easy to remove.

The filter pad idea above also works. It isn't like we are talking about GFO which is super messy. If you are using something like carbon and it is decent quality then you can use a mesh bag as you are not putting a lot of high pressure water through there. Then just reach in and remove.

You have options.

 

[MickeyCT]

Fishing line idea is interesting and I may check that out.

I do try to shake it into a bucket but it never comes out easily, even with banging against the side of the bucket. I use the BRS 0.8 ROX. Maybe it's too fine so packs too tightly too easily, or I leave it in too long. And mine is on a manifold with the unions as I think that's the only way he has them.

 

[areefer01]

Fishing line idea is interesting and I may check that out.

I do try to shake it into a bucket but it never comes out easily, even with banging against the side of the bucket. I use the BRS 0.8 ROX. Maybe it's too fine so packs too tightly too easily, or I leave it in too long. And mine is on a manifold with the unions as I think that's the only way he has them.

That is fine as you mentioned and will get stuck. I use Kolar Labs and buy the 5 gallon bucket. Quality product but didn't like that it was getting stuck in the sponge thing as you noted.

 

[MickeyCT]

How difficult is the Kolar Labs GAC to rinse clear? I see it's sold on their website in lbs. Is the 5 gallon bucket the 15lb. option? I may give it a try.

 

[areefer01]

How difficult is the Kolar Labs GAC to rinse clear? I see it's sold on their website in lbs. Is the 5 gallon bucket the 15lb. option? I may give it a try.

It has been a while since I used the BRS brand but Kolar will probably be no different. To be honest I didn't compare. As with anything we use I'd see if maybe a local store carries Kolar so you can see, or try, a small sample. Or buy the smaller size before splurging on the bucket. Just because I'm happy with it doesn't mean you may have a different experience. 100 bucks or whatever the bucket is can be a lot of money so I like to say try before you buy.

If you have the BRS stuff left you can always place it in a media bag to hold it. The canister will still work and maybe that is a cheaper or simple solution? I don't know.