shred5
Premium Member
I was agreeing with you just expanding on what you said.
0 phosphates = STN? It does for me.
- Thread starter xenon
- Start date
I was agreeing with you just expanding on what you said.
Awesome!!! :strooper:
When I was running my 40 breeder, I cleaned my skimmer every 3 days, water change every week. I wasnt running any phos media.
At first I was cause the rock leached out some phos and created HA problems but I didnt use GFO. It never worked out well for me. I used XtraPhosX. I changed it once a week and it worked great without and bad side effects on my tank.
At first I was cause the rock leached out some phos and created HA problems but I didnt use GFO. It never worked out well for me. I used XtraPhosX. I changed it once a week and it worked great without and bad side effects on my tank.
shred5
Premium Member
I dont know why you say it is outdated it works well, you just have to beware of a few things.
I honestly rarely use anything to remove phosphate. I always have some gfo on hand but for me it just straight up good husbandry. Good skimmer, dont overfeed and water changes.
Allmost
New member
if running GFO, then use small amount, and replace often, do not let po4 build up and use alot of GFO to remove it all at once overnight, try to keep it consistant.
or use carbon dosing
A few thoughts:
PO4 species of phospha te are useful to living things for proteins, dna, phospholips in tissue ,etc. Upper reef waters hold very little but in a constant supply,ie, around .005 ppm. It comes into the tank with supplements and mostly from foods and expelled waste by organisms. It's used in small amounts and most consumed phosphate is expelled . In a fed tank it's hard to fathom a PO4 defciency except for green algae which is limited at <.03ppm. Keeping it lower than that serves no helpful purpose of which I am aware. Trouble is test kits and even photometers don't have a precise enough accuracy range to really know whether it's 0 or .03ppm or .06ppm. Further it may read 0 and still be there being consumed by organisms while the water column level appears low.
In any case a deficiency in PO4 is very unlikely in a fed tank, particularly one with fish in it .
Rapid reductions can affect some corals adversely though from clearer water and consequent increases in light intensity and the need for corals to adjust to the lower levels.
GFO is a a very good way to control it. It can get pricey. Costs can be lessened by regenerating gfo.
Iron is deficient in most aquariums and depletes rapidly, so any minimal amounts of iron coming off the gfo is likely helpful . The lack of PO4 will limit the algae whether or not iron is there.
The op is not dosing organic carbon but it will reduce PO4 . However , the bacteria involved take proportionately more nitrogen than phosphate relative to inputs. So many who use these so called probiotic methods also use small amounts of gfo. Nitrogen deficiencies are also rare with NO3 on the reef in the 0.2ppm range but are more likely to occur than a PO4 defficiency in a reef tank , kept at anemic nutrient levels.,imo .
PO4 species of phospha te are useful to living things for proteins, dna, phospholips in tissue ,etc. Upper reef waters hold very little but in a constant supply,ie, around .005 ppm. It comes into the tank with supplements and mostly from foods and expelled waste by organisms. It's used in small amounts and most consumed phosphate is expelled . In a fed tank it's hard to fathom a PO4 defciency except for green algae which is limited at <.03ppm. Keeping it lower than that serves no helpful purpose of which I am aware. Trouble is test kits and even photometers don't have a precise enough accuracy range to really know whether it's 0 or .03ppm or .06ppm. Further it may read 0 and still be there being consumed by organisms while the water column level appears low.
In any case a deficiency in PO4 is very unlikely in a fed tank, particularly one with fish in it .
Rapid reductions can affect some corals adversely though from clearer water and consequent increases in light intensity and the need for corals to adjust to the lower levels.
GFO is a a very good way to control it. It can get pricey. Costs can be lessened by regenerating gfo.
Iron is deficient in most aquariums and depletes rapidly, so any minimal amounts of iron coming off the gfo is likely helpful . The lack of PO4 will limit the algae whether or not iron is there.
The op is not dosing organic carbon but it will reduce PO4 . However , the bacteria involved take proportionately more nitrogen than phosphate relative to inputs. So many who use these so called probiotic methods also use small amounts of gfo. Nitrogen deficiencies are also rare with NO3 on the reef in the 0.2ppm range but are more likely to occur than a PO4 defficiency in a reef tank , kept at anemic nutrient levels.,imo .
FranktheTankTx
New member
So.... Is running carbon & gfo in a dual chamber reactor a good thing for SPS tanks??
Acronic
The Fifth Master
In the proper amount and if needed, yes. Easy to over do it though.
FranktheTankTx
New member
Do you have a formula or 'rule' to suggest when & how much of each to use? Obviously a place such as BRS has suggestions on how much of each to use.
Acronic
The Fifth Master
Im a fan of less is more, especially when dosing things like additives and GAC/GFO. That said I have no magic formula, sorry. I would just measure N03 and P04 and make a decision based on the results.
I use GAC 24/7 but if the water is ULNS quality I would put it in a mesh bag and just toss it in the sump vs. using a reactor.
GFO is a bit trickier... It can cause issues due to stripping the water of P04. If you measure the P04 levels at the outlet of a GFO reactor it would read 0ppm (if it works and isnt exhausted) so with that we could assume that the P04 would be stripped from the tank at the same rate that the reactor turns over water volume which is just wayy too fast IMO. Thats why I prefer to use much less than the recommended amount. [my reactor never has more than 1inch of GFO media for 200g system volume(TLF150)] Ive never used the high grade stuff. Im not a big fan of GFO simply because of the cost. IMO if a water change cant resolve the issue the rocks need to be cooked or the sandbed is funk.
I use GAC 24/7 but if the water is ULNS quality I would put it in a mesh bag and just toss it in the sump vs. using a reactor.
GFO is a bit trickier... It can cause issues due to stripping the water of P04. If you measure the P04 levels at the outlet of a GFO reactor it would read 0ppm (if it works and isnt exhausted) so with that we could assume that the P04 would be stripped from the tank at the same rate that the reactor turns over water volume which is just wayy too fast IMO. Thats why I prefer to use much less than the recommended amount. [my reactor never has more than 1inch of GFO media for 200g system volume(TLF150)] Ive never used the high grade stuff. Im not a big fan of GFO simply because of the cost. IMO if a water change cant resolve the issue the rocks need to be cooked or the sandbed is funk.
So.... Is running carbon & gfo in a dual chamber reactor a good thing for SPS tanks??
FWIW, I run granulated activated carbon (Rox8) 24/7. It is an excellent organics remover.
I also run some gfo.
They are in separate reactors with waer passing through them to ensure exposure to al of the surface area binding sites.
Since they exhaustat different times runningthem in separte reactors is helpful ;it also helps prevent them grinding each other up. They can be run in the same reactor but I've found it easier and more efficient to separate them.
Do you have a formula or 'rule' to suggest when & how much of each to use? Obviously a place such as BRS has suggestions on how much of each to use.
Obviously how much you need of each depnds on the tank .
The consensus recommendation for gac is 1/2 cup per 50 gallons of water volume;1/3 cup if using Rox8 gac,changed monthly.
For gfo it depends on how much PO4 is in the water. It can exhaust within a day or two in high PO4 concentrations.In my case with constant relatively low PO4 and organic carbon dosing(vodka and vinegar) I use 2 cups for 600 gallons of water volume changed monthly.
FWIW, I run granulated activated carbon (Rox8) 24/7. It is an excellent organics remover.
I also run some gfo.
They are in separate reactors with waer passing through them to ensure exposure to al of the surface area binding sites.
Since they exhaustat different times runningthem in separte reactors is helpful ;it also helps prevent them grinding each other up. They can be run in the same reactor but I've found it easier and more efficient to separate them.
Do you have a formula or 'rule' to suggest when & how much of each to use? Obviously a place such as BRS has suggestions on how much of each to use.
Obviously how much you need of each depnds on the tank .
The consensus recommendation for gac is 1/2 cup per 50 gallons of water volume;1/3 cup if using Rox8 gac,changed monthly.
For gfo it depends on how much PO4 is in the water. It can exhaust within a day or two in high PO4 concentrations.In my case with constant relatively low PO4 and organic carbon dosing(vodka and vinegar) I use 2 cups for 600 gallons of water volume changed monthly.
FranktheTankTx
New member
The flow rate through GFO is high to stop the media from solidifying therefore reducing surface area. When mixed with carbon I don't have this problem, although grinding can be an issue if turned up too high. I lose some efficiency because I change both regardless of phosphate levels but it has proved easier to me to only have one reactor to deal with. I was using two before and I still get the same phosphate drop out of the same amount of GFO it just gets changed a bit early most of the time.
acroholicreefer
New member
I always think of it like this............not sure if this is 100% true but this is what my theory is.........Phosphates allows for algae to grow. The algae feeds the pods and the gametes from the pods feeds the acros. Then the cycle of life continues.
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