benefits of gfo for sps

[A.G]

Hey Guys,

I would like to your personal experince with
GFO in your reef tanks. I mean i always hear
"It dropped my po4" that is NOT what i want to hear.

I want to know ur experince in term of sps color. Has it made a different ?
Is ur growth faster? Do u lose colors or growth when u turn it off?

Regd

 

[SApicoreef]

Used it and didn't like it. Started using another product which is solid carbon source similar to biopellets except with no reactor and no worries. It didn't have any major negatives but just not for me...

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

What are you using ?

 

[haze152]

I started use GFO about 3 months ago in a dual reactor. My PO4 was at .25 and now is at a stable .02-.04 ( Hanna meter) The color of my corals are amazing and growth has tripled

 

[chad p]

I use GFO as a means to keep algae in check. When I let it go I get increased algae on the glass but I don't see any positive change in my SPS color or growth. When I replace my reactor with fresh GFO I don't see a negative affect on my SPS color either.

For me...if you're worried about too low nitrates and P04 just feed more and supplement aminos. I agree with those that say the best practice for SPS is a lot of quality nutrients in and quality means of nutrient exportation.

IME you can find a balance without supplementing and using GFO but then you're constantly dealing with algae/cyano issues. There are so many ways to find your personal balance with your tank and it can certainly be done in a way that SPS thrive in...with or without GFO. FWIW my phosphates go from 0 to 0.02 in my system (Hanna) depending on when I test.

 

[ganjero]

Phosphate can inhibit calcification, reducing phosphates via GFO can aid in coral growth.

This is not a mathematical formula where just reducing PO4 will give you better growth, it is a combination of many factors but low PO4 is one of the most important.

IME GFO has helped me with faster growth and better colors, but that is because I chose that route for reducing PO4. There are other ways to achieve the same results (low PO4)

 

[A.G]

Thanks all for the input.

Any one else care to share his/her experience with GFO.

 

[Allmost]

GFO will do nothing to your corals. GFO will bond to po4. and lower it. it has absolutely no other property. it is not armed, and will not hunt down corals.

so what will po4 do ? it will drop po4 and Sillica.

how will corals react to this po4 reduction ? as Ganjero said, it depends what state they are in and the tank is in ....

if you tank is running with low po4, GFO can kill all corals overnight. RTN from base up.

if you tank is running with tooooo much po4, it will drop it a bit and stress corals, need to monitor the water.

correct way of using GFO is to run it, and test po4, and as soon as it starts rising, replace the po4. any other way, would be a waste of your money and time.

 

[MammothReefer]

I don't know about GFO killing your corals with low P04, but the rest I agree with. I've been running GFO 24/7 for years on most of my tanks. It keeps my P04 below .03 usually at 0 on a Hannah Meter. I know it's not actually 0 as I have never been 100% without algae but it keeps low enough where my growth is was quick and the corals had good growth structure to them. If you are already running Carbon I don't see any reason not run GFO as well with a duel chamber reactor you aren't using up any more power to run carbon and gfo.

 

[Allmost]

meant more with carbon dosing systems, running low po4 without GFO.

if I put GFO on my zeovit tank, most corals would start RTNing from base up.

 

[fengxzhang]

Exactly what everyone has said. GFO doesn't influence the coloration of the corals. But having too much phosphate inhibits growth and potentially discolor (brown out) and kill your SPS. I have also used it for over 1.5 years. But I'm really careful not to overuse (an amount over the recommended) since I'm scared that over utilization of GFO may impact growth of other corals in the tank.