FeliciaLynn
Guest
Blue Life released their new media reactor at MACNA and immediately sold out of all the units they'd brought to the show. Brandie, Denzil, and I all decided to place orders and try it out. Since I purchased mine after they sold out of the units at the show, they shipped mine from the warehouse at the end of last week. It arrived today and I already have it all set up on the tank. I just wanted to give my first impressions of the reactor.
Oh, and here's a write-up about its release at MACNA:
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2014/08/blue-life-usa-carb-fx-resinator.html
- First off, how is it different than other reactors? Its pressurized like an RO unit, which forces all of the water through the media instead of around it in channels. This makes in more efficient than other reactors.
- Price: Very affordable! A single unit including the 3 types of media (carbon, phosphate remover, and organic scavenger) was on special at the show for only $88 shipped. That includes all the tubing and connections, so you just need a separate pump to set it up.
- Design: It seems like its very well made. Also, its incredibly compact compared to my BRS single media reactor. This is great for packed stands. It can also be set directly into a sump or put in the back chambers of an AIO. Very versatile! Also, it doesn't have to be vertical, you can lay it horizontal if you want. It includes two nice mounting brackets that have suction cups or can be screwed into the wood of your stand.
- Media: For smaller tanks, they recommend a single canister running all 3 of the medias. My single canister has carbon on top and then a cotton disk and a plastic grating as a separator. Under the separator is a mix of the phosphate removing media and organic scavenger. For larger tanks, you can daisy chain multiple canisters running each media separately. The carbon is very high grade and low dust. The phosphate-removing media and organic scavenger are both tiny beads that are completely dust free and can't compact like GFO. The canister comes completely full with media, which seemed like a lot for my small 30 gallon tank, so I removed half of the media and will store it until I need to replace the media. You can adjust the amount of media in the canister to whatever meets your needs.
- Installation: Absolutely a breeze! Just cut the included tubing to size and snap on some fittings and you're good to go! I have mine hooked up to my MJ1200 pump and turned it on.
- Maintenance: Seems like it should be very low maintenance. I was told at the show that their media should last ~5 months before needing to be replaced. Also, there's no need to open up the canister and scrub it out. Just switch the tubing really quick to back flush it, and since its pressurized, it will force out any detritus.
Oh, and here's a write-up about its release at MACNA:
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2014/08/blue-life-usa-carb-fx-resinator.html