Rookie mistake

[fishlips]

Well, I made a mistake that I should have known better.
.After having my gfo reactor shut down for a week. Got my new brand of gfo, installed a little shy of what was recommended in the reactor. (Thats the mistake).To much gfo.It must have depleted phosphates to rapidly or something. I am glad only one acro sacrificed a few branches. Others just showed me they were not happy. It could have been a real expensive
crash.

 

[myreefclub0070]

we all make some rookie mistakes at some point, happy you caught it in time.

 

[grouper therapy]

Fishlips;1101409 wrote: Well, I made a mistake that I should have known better.
.After having my gfo reactor shut down for a week. Got my new brand of gfo, installed a little shy of what was recommended in the reactor. (Thats the mistake).To much gfo.It must have depleted phosphates to rapidly or something. I am glad only one acro sacrificed a few branches. Others just showed me they were not happy. It could have been a real expensive
crash.

I know this is considered to be a no no but, I propose this.
If I get frag from your system before you added the new GFO (elevated phosphates) and bring it to my tank that has super low phosphates and it survives, is not the " too quick" phosphate reduction theory disproved, perhaps anecdotal? I ask because I have never lost a sps frag from quick phosphate reduction.

 

[snowmansnow]

agree with grouper...

that being said...
everyone makes rookie mistakes no matter how long you've been doing...
it will happen in some form eventually.

 

[fishlips]

Well, you could be right. All I know, Is I added 2 cups of gfo to my reactor, then, over aweek later, started seeing signs of a problem. Shut down reactor. Did alittle research, and thats what some had said. Im sure there is some consequences to hading to much. I didn't come up with this thought on my own. But , I m glad I shut the gfo down.
I didn't loose anything, but a good nights sleep

 

[bcavalli]

As most experts say small changes are always better. I've always wondered if we run such incredibly stable systems (temp for instance) and then we experience fluctuations have we limited their ability to recover? I've read about reefs that fluctuate in temp by 10 degrees seasonally. If we let that happen in our systems then everything would be dead. Just a thought.

 

[freezerrat]

I think when it comes to problems in this hobby a lot of accepted causes are not THE cause but a contributing factor. Sort of like migraine headaches. There's often a trigger that sets off underlying causes. There's so much involved in the chemistry that we don't understand or have the means to test for.

 

[fishlips]

Thanks, for everyone's comments. It was my bad for not knowing how to use gfo. I am one who follows directions when adding anything to my tank. With gfo, you can't, or shouldn't.

 

[grouper therapy]

Bcavalli;1101580 wrote: As most experts say small changes are always better. I've always wondered if we run such incredibly stable systems (temp for instance) and then we experience fluctuations have we limited their ability to recover? I've read about reefs that fluctuate in temp by 10 degrees seasonally. If we let that happen in our systems then everything would be dead. Just a thought.

I never have had a stable system compared to most. The temps on my system have always varied 2 to 3 degrees in a 24 hr period. 4 to 5 over several days.

 

[grouper therapy]

freezerrat;1101581 wrote: I think when it comes to problems in this hobby a lot of accepted causes are not THE cause but a contributing factor. Sort of like migraine headaches. There's often a trigger that sets off underlying causes. There's so much involved in the chemistry that we don't understand or have the means to test for.

Agreed! that is the case probably more than we know.:up: