Weight-in on your experience with Marine Pure biofilter media

[CenlaReefer]

Wow! I cannot edit my title- it should be "weigh-in on your experience with Marine Pure..." Can a moderator please change that?

I was skeptical to try Marine Pure biofilter media until I saw a Youtube review saying that this stuff allows more livestock per gallon because of its efficency for harboring lots of beneficial bacteria. For my 75 gallon display with 30 gallon sump, I put in a bit over one Qt of the 1.5 inch spheres. Since then, I have virtually no cyanobacteria any more for many months now. I can do much less water changes as well. The website for Marine Pure says that, "One MarinePure Sphere has the same surface area as 1,350 plastic 1.5" bio-balls." I would appreciate any input re: this product. Good reviews? How has it improved your tank? Are there any bad reviews out there? I heard that this media has been around for many years. What is the longest someone has had a batch of this stuff in their tank?

I guess the only downside to this product is the possibility of it collecting detritis in those very small holes. I placed all my media in a flat rectangular tupperware container with lots of large holes drilled on every side and then zip-tied the lid to keep it on. Occasional during water changes, I take the entire container and rinse it well in a 5 gallon bucket of waste salt water to rinse out any detritis. I keep enough media tight in the container so they do not roll around and break apart. Thinking it over, I should have just gotten one huge block. Anyway, is my process sufficient for cleaning out detritis?

 

[gus6464]

I run Matrix in my sump which is similar. I seeded it with prodibio biodigest. I have the matrix after the filter socks so it doesn't catch detritus. The block of marine pure is good because you can cut it and fit wherever. The only downside people say is that it can become brittle over time and break apart easily.

 

[MrDJeep123]

All I can say is that I have more fish in my tank than I should have. I have 2 boxes of the spheres in the sump w/ mud and sand. With that said, I don't go crazy on the feedings. I feed them lightly. Nitrates stay low. I do run phosphate remover and I skim for 24 hours once a week.

 

[Sabellafella]

Ive always ben using marine pure, i have the block ,spheres and brick, they are very good at seeding a qt when you need to. They barely collect any ditritus but i rinse them about every 3 4 months, their good in general especially when you want a minimal aquascape , only bad review and issue with it is they supposably leach aluminium according to everyone that uses it with conjuction to triton. But then again alot of peoples tanks test 200x the amount of aluminum without the blocks and usually results with saltmixes and equipment so who knows (edit i also use the bricks my protien skimmer stand lol)

 

[Reefchris28]

I also use the marine pure 8x8x1" plate in my sump. Like sabellefella mentions I have a minimalist aqua scape in my setup. Been using it for about 2 months with no complaints

 

[MrDJeep123]

Wow! I cannot edit my title- it should be "weigh-in on your experience with Marine Pure..." Can a moderator please change that?

I was skeptical to try Marine Pure biofilter media until I saw a Youtube review saying that this stuff allows more livestock per gallon because of its efficency for harboring lots of beneficial bacteria. For my 75 gallon display with 30 gallon sump, I put in a bit over one Qt of the 1.5 inch spheres. Since then, I have virtually no cyanobacteria any more for many months now. I can do much less water changes as well. The website for Marine Pure says that, "One MarinePure Sphere has the same surface area as 1,350 plastic 1.5" bio-balls." I would appreciate any input re: this product. Good reviews? How has it improved your tank? Are there any bad reviews out there? I heard that this media has been around for many years. What is the longest someone has had a batch of this stuff in their tank?

I guess the only downside to this product is the possibility of it collecting detritis in those very small holes. I placed all my media in a flat rectangular tupperware container with lots of large holes drilled on every side and then zip-tied the lid to keep it on. Occasional during water changes, I take the entire container and rinse it well in a 5 gallon bucket of waste salt water to rinse out any detritis. I keep enough media tight in the container so they do not roll around and break apart. Thinking it over, I should have just gotten one huge block. Anyway, is my process sufficient for cleaning out detritis?

To answer your questions more, I've had them in my tank for awhile now. March will be 2 years, I believe. I don't rinse them as I believe that will kill the bacteria currently colonized in them. That would defeat the purpose in my opinion. As for rinsing in waste SW, I don't see why that would be bad thing, so long as they aren't sitting out being exposed to air for any length of time. I have a filter sock so that catches all debris prior to the spheres. Ideally, you should do something similar so that they don't continually get clogged.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Ive always ben using marine pure, i have the block ,spheres and brick, they are very good at seeding a qt when you need to. They barely collect any ditritus but i rinse them about every 3 4 months, their good in general especially when you want a minimal aquascape , only bad review and issue with it is they supposably leach aluminium according to everyone that uses it with conjuction to triton. But then again alot of peoples tanks test 200x the amount of aluminum without the blocks and usually results with saltmixes and equipment so who knows (edit i also use the bricks my protien skimmer stand lol)

Is there aluminum in this product? What is triton? I have heard of Triton LED fixtures and Triton flourescent bulbs. Using these to prop up a skimmer stand is a great idea.

 

[burtbollinger]

i've had a marinepure plate in my sump for @ 4 months...in the overflow area just past the skimmer....do I need to pull it out and give it a quick rinse in tank water on occasion?

 

[Sabellafella]

i've had a marinepure plate in my sump for @ 4 months...in the overflow area just past the skimmer....do I need to pull it out and give it a quick rinse in tank water on occasion?

If it looks riddled with detritus and stuff yeah, but imo i dont think its necessary. I mean, the right thing to do is rinse it once in a while, so i would just stick with your personal instinct

 

[jeffberens]

I was thinking of locating a MP brick in the return section of my sump behind my Vectra L1 (opposite side as the input). Is there any downside to this?

My reasoning was that I want to drain the main portion of my sump during a water change and I don't want it to be exposed to the air during that time.

The only thing I can think of is if it crumbles or gets broken up and some of it gets sucked in the return pump.

What do you think?

 

[desertcelt]

I had several plates of MP in my sump until I received my Triton water test results which showed elevated levels of Al in the water sample. I'd read that this media may be prone to leaching metals and barring any other sources this contamination, I decided to remove the plates. I've yet to do another Triton test but I feel better that I've removed a possible source.

 

[lordraptor1]

desertcelt by all means send me the MP i will fing use it, triton testing brain farts on the aluminum test from research i have done ( and NO im not referring to the article cermedia put out because we all know how manufacturers like to defend their own product and bash another). with that said there are hundreds of people that are running mp in successful reef tanks with no issue whatsoever. 10 years ago when i last had a salt tank set up ( currently trying to set up one up now but still in the hardware aquisition mode thanks to the danged rats while my stuff was in storage) some peopel were sending their water in to labs for testing and they were getting high aluminum water tests then and at that point marine pure was either non exsistant ( at least i had never heard of it back then), so if the mp is the problem now what was it prior to MP? can you explain that?