Mark Martin on Chemical Filtration
Mark Martin is Director of Marine Ornamental Research at Blue Zoo

Chemi-Pure by Boyd is a fantastic chemical filtration media to use in thanks that have soft coral.

I’m often asked what the best media product for soft coral dominated tanks is. Running chemical filtration in a soft coral system is important in order to deal with the toxins that many of these corals release into the water. It is especially important in a mixed tank where toxins released by soft corals can harm (or even kill) stony corals. The simple answer to this question about which media is best is “carbon.” To avoid potential problems with soft coral toxins, run carbon 24-7 in any tank with soft coral species. Let’s look a little closer at some specific products.

Personally I have always liked and used the Seachem products like MatrixCarbon. This is a spherical bead shaped activated carbon media designed for high water flow and long contact time. One real benefit of this product is its low ash content and the fact that it has the absolute lowest detectable leachable phosphate content of all major carbon brands I know of. Use 250 mL of MatrixCarbon for every 100 gallons of aquarium water. While I prefer using this product in a reverse flow substrate reactor, it can also be used in a media bag in any high flow area of your sump.

In my opinion, the absolute best media to use when dealing with toxins produced by soft corals is virgin carbon, and I really like Boyd’s product called Chemi-Pure. Chemi-Pure contains virgin carbon and a whole lot more, and it will keep your aquarium water sparkling clear. The regular Chemi-Pure effectively removes dissolved organics while maintaining your pH, and the Chemi-Pure Elite also removes phosphates (it contains ferric oxide). You can also count on this product to remove heavy metals, copper, ammonia, and other nitrogenous waste from your aquarium water. I recommend this product to any reefer, but especially those with soft coral dominated systems. The 10 ounce size, which comes pre-packaged in a filter bag, will treat 40 gallons of aquarium water for up to a month.

If you have a question you would like answered in my weekly “Ask Mark” column, please e-mail me at mark@bluezooaquatics.com. To see all of the past “Ask Mark” tips, please visit the Blue Zoo Aquatics Resources page.

Published 11 August 2008. © Blue Zoo Aquatics