Chemi pure elite

Hey guy's,,

Edited by dmcrete - April 14 2013 at 12:13pm

ClownFishAddict wrote: I would run it in a reactor.

, And Can you tell me why you would run it in a reactor?? no sponges, or filter pads in my mechanical filter ,,SO,, what exactly is the difference??dont want to have to spend the money on a reactor if this is working, You think that mechanical Canister  is still a nitrate--- nitrite factory,, even without any sponges or filter pads?? let me know your reasoning

Howdy Mark,,

Mark Peterson wrote: Aloha, Okay, I see. I just thought it might be helpful to mention that Chemipure has had bad effects on some reef tanks, actually causing problems with coral health. If this is a fish only tank then disregard all that I'm saying here. Based on my experience, AC is the only filter medium that is absolutely needed for reef tanks.  If a reef tank is to be overfed, a mechanical filter and/or oversized skimmer must be used and filter pads/sponges cleaned often to avoid the problem you mentioned. There is really no other safe way to do it, unless you feel like playing with carbon dosing. (Overfeeding is really a form of carbon dosing, but unlike carbon dosing, the overfed tank must be physically cleaned at frequent intervals.) Personally, being a lazy reefer, I would simply add more snails to keep algae under control and do light gravel vacuuming with each water change. On the other hand, Brad/Tileman has an elaborate system of expensive equipment to handle the overfeeding of his overstocked 335 gal tank. His tank is on the Reef Tour in May or check in with him before that. Mahalo, Mark       Thanks Mark, I Have not read on any BAD effects on corals?? I Do Know if a Hobbies't strips the water TOO MUCH,, that can starve a coral,, Is there something i missed About this chemipureelite Mark??

Aloha,

If I understand correctly, ChemiPure Elite is the original Chemipure product with added Activated Carbon, right?

dmcrete wrote: Thanks Mark, I Have not read on any BAD effects on corals?? I Do Know if a Hobbies't strips the water TOO MUCH,, that can starve a coral,, Is there something i missed About this chemipureelite Mark??

Right here on this forum are the bad experiences people have had with continuous use of ChemiPure. It's not a bad product. It's great for:
- 4-8 week use to remove the toxins put off by dead and dry LR that has been reintroduced to an aquarium
- intermittant use to remove toxins that a skimmer and AC cannot remove, especially if water changes are infrequent

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would not trust ChemiPure by itself to handle the extra organics and particulates resulting from overfeeding. In this situation I would include the use of heavy skimming and/or mechanical filtration of particulates, including light gravel vacuuming at each water change. I would use the canister filter or an HOB filter with just one pad/sponge and clean it at 1-2 week intervals as needed.

Alternatively, if I needed to feed a lot of fish I would grow a forest of Macroalgae before overstocking the tank.



Mahalo,
Mark

Mark Peterson wrote: Aloha, If I understand correctly, ChemiPure Elite is the original Chemipure product with added Activated Carbon, right?

The "elite" version adds ferric oxide to the original formula to also remove phosphates and silicates. The original product is pretty much just activated carbon.

Aloha,

This from the Boyd Enteprises website regarding Chemipure:
"Chemipure is a nylon filter bag filled with a high grade blend of activated carbons and ion exchange resins."

As was said, Chemipure Elite has the additional function of using Iron Oxide to remove Phosphates and Silicates.

So my original words of caution are still somewhat valid. Depending on the bioload, prolonged use of Chemipure may cause problems. We can get our tanks into trouble if we use filter media to remove organics or add chemicals to replace missing organics without testing the chemical parameters of our tanks to see if that filter media or chemical is really needed.

That said, I suppose that because Chemipure Elite probably has a lesser amount of the ion exchange resins to make room for the added FeO it's less of a worry than using straight Chemipure. I'm also thinking that todays Chemipure is a different product than the original Chemipure. I remember years ago opening a bag and seeing only ion exchange resin and no Activated Carbon.

Now the gears are turning in my head... I have found that AC by itself is all I have needed and I know that it is spent after 2 weeks. My question then is why not just use AC replaced every 2 weeks and use a separate bag of ion echange resin or other Nitrogen removal media for 2 months. Sorry, I'm probably over thinking this.

Mahalo,
Mark

I run this in my nano, I guess you could run this in a reactor but I use a very fine media sock. Besides the AC, there is very fine red-orange beads in the media(I presume this is what makes this the elite version) in the < 0.5mm size range. Be sure the current in the reactor doesn't sweep them into the tank. Strangely enough the media looks like fish eggs.