Is a media reactor necessary?

[Mike Mandarin]

Fairly new to the saltwater hobby ( used to have a couple 60 gallons 18 years ago , boy have things changed). I now have a 38 gallon Innovative marine tank with 60 pounds of live rock, decent skimmer and run chemi pure elite in the media basket. Is this enough to house a few corals ( i have an anchor coral and a few mushrooms right now, a scooter blenny, watchman goby, small clown, firefish, and cleanup crew- turbos, hermits and a cleaner shrimp. I added everything slowly over 4 months and water parameters are all good so far. I'd like to put a few more corals in (hardy Lps) but dont know if its a good idea. Would a media reactor with bio pellets be a good idea? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I do not think they are necessary, but they can be very helpful. I would keep a close eye on the water parameters and monitor changes to determine if you should run one. I have a 55 mixed reef with a canister filter and good skimmer, but I do not have a reactor. I try to keep up with weekly water changes to help keep things in line and it is working for me.

 

[goodtimes]

I don't think it's needed if you keep up with water changes. I always run a bag of carbon in the back chambers of my biocube though.


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[ReeferBob]

It all depends on what you need to do. Phosphates are hard to remove sometimes and media reactors help a lot with this. As you said carbon is beneficial as well as a number of other things. It all depends on what you are trying to do with the tank.