GFO/Carbon

[merkywater]

How long should I wait to hook up my GFO and Carbon to my recently transferred tank? I know I need to use a fraction of GFO when first introducing it. I ran carbon on old set-up but not GFO. I plan to run both on the new system.

 

[darcurr]

depends. GFO is kinda pricey so if I wasn't having algea issue, I'd hold off. Carbon on the other hand is relatively cheap. I've hooked those up as part of the tank build and let them run from day 1 to remove that cloudyness caused from new sand. I would use GFO if I knew my water had phosphates or my rock came from a tank that did.

 

[rbredding]

really?


why would you have to limit the use of GFO in a tank?

why not just set it up and "turn it on" ?

 

[merkywater]

I have GFO and Carbon both my question is: Does it hurt to go ahead and set the reactor up on a freshly transferred tank?

 

[rbredding]

Everything I've read says that you can't "overdose" or shock a system with GFO.. it removes phosphates, and that's all it does.. keeping it in a system too long (without changing it out) does nothing to the system except allow your phosphates to climb again..

i've heard its one of the very few things in this hobby (carbon being the other) that can't really mess up your system..

 

[merkywater]

10-4 I have heard that you should start with half the amount of GFO recommended can't remember why though!

 

[tgray3]

merkywater;613708 wrote: 10-4 I have heard that you should start with half the amount of GFO recommended can't remember why though!

The "start out at 1/2 dose with GFO" really only applies to you if there's livestock in the tank. If the livestock is used to a certain amount of PO4 in the water and has adapted to those levels then they can react adversely if the levels are changed too rapidly. If your tank has no livestock then it doesn't matter. FWIW i've ran carbon and GFO from day one on my new set up.

 

[ralph atl]

tgray3;613722 wrote: The "start out at 1/2 dose with GFO" really only applies to you if there's livestock in the tank. If the livestock is used to a certain amount of PO4 in the water and has adapted to those levels then they can react adversely if the levels are changed too rapidly. If your tank has no livestock then it doesn't matter. FWIW i've ran carbon and GFO from day one on my new set up.

:up:

 

[rbredding]

what kind of stress are we talking about here? the equivalent of a smoker, not breathing in cigarette smoke any longer?

 

[ralph atl]

Rbredding;613767 wrote: what kind of stress are we talking about here? the equivalent of a smoker, not breathing in cigarette smoke any longer?

removing nutrients extremey fast to Ultra-Low levels can & has rtn'd stony corals......

 

[rbredding]

I just don't get it...


How can reducing your phosphates from "whatever" to 0 harm the system?? (exactly, how?)

if my system went from nitrates at 25 to 0 would that harm the livestock also? (if not, why?)

 

[ralph atl]

I might be wrong, but I believe Rit, Raj, & Chris had this happen to them....

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php</a>

here's some info

 

[grouper therapy]

Rbredding;613775 wrote: I just don't get it...


How can reducing your phosphates from "whatever" to 0 harm the system?? (exactly, how?)

if my system went from nitrates at 25 to 0 would that harm the livestock also? (if not, why?)

Ron, no one to date that I am aware of has proven that the GFO reduces phosphates so quickly that corals are so stressed from the change that they rtn. Any evidence so far is purely anecdotal .If that were the case than more corals would react the same when taken from a tank high in phosphates and placed instantly (quicker change than GFO could ever cause) into a ultra low phosphate tank. Makes no sense at all. It is however enough instances that the introduction of GFO into the system has coincided with a system's SPS RTN' ing to warrant a slow introduction of it to a system. I have used from day one and have introduced many SPS without any adverse side effects.

 

[rbredding]

ok, thank you..

I wanted to know if I was missing something..
I dont expect the addition of a BRS reactor to drop my PO4 to nothing overnight, but I DO want to get them down to 0 within a couple weeks.

I'm dealing with a GHA breakout, and I want to prevent that from happening again. (i know it won't remove the algae already present)

I just couldn't find anything that even came close to warning about the introduction of GFO Reactor to an existing system. I don't keep a multitude of SPS, but I do have a few pieces that I believe are probably suffering BECAUSE of higher than recommended PO4 (sorry, I don't have a test kit, so I'm not sure what the number is, but I've had a LFS test my water and they weren't 0.. )