Does Your BRS GFO Reactor Even Work?

[kissman]

the only time I had an issue with mine clogging was when I was carbon dosing. The bacteria was growing and binding the GFO together within days. One time after i left town for a week, when I got home i had to break it apart in clumps to get it out.

 

[keithhays]

Does anyone have an opinion of whether GFO or Bio Pellets are better to use??

They do two different things for the most part. GFO is used for Phosphate reduction and bio pellets are for nitrate. It will reduce phosphate some, but you will want to do both. Since I am in opinion mode, I would go with direct carbon dosing so that you know how much is being dosed to achieve a specific affect. You don't ever really know how much carbon is being dosed with pellets.

I use both GFO and carbon dosing.

 

[keithhays]

the only time I had an issue with mine clogging was when I was carbon dosing. The bacteria was growing and binding the GFO together within days. One time after i left town for a week, when I got home i had to break it apart in clumps to get it out.

This is definitely true, but as long as you are tumbling with enough room to everything to fluidized and moving, you shouldn't have that issue.

 

[benfinley]

a 1/4 cup couldn't get clogged though, how much were you putting in when it was getting clogged?

I don't mean that the GFO gets stuck together; the reactor gets clogged. Like the little grates on the bottom of the cartridge won't let water through. Nothing to do with the GFO or the amount I put in.

 

[screamingibis]

tried it with gfo and it clogged all the time using a mj 1200. now it's only used for carbon and I got a TLF 150 for the GFO. works great, hasn't leaked in two years.

 

[Michigan Mike]

OP, I may have missed it but what are you using ? Pellet GFO, average granular, or fine high capacity GFO?
They all require different flow and pellets can be used in a filter sock better, it also can be regelated more but it may not matter because its not as adsorb ant as granular GFO.

I've found when I have a lot of phosphate I may as well dump the GFO for another refill within a week or two.
Try using less at a time & refilling more often, wash it in RO water before you use it.

 

[keithhays]

I don't mean that the GFO gets stuck together; the reactor gets clogged. Like the little grates on the bottom of the cartridge won't let water through. Nothing to do with the GFO or the amount I put in.

Gotcha, I am assuming you don't mean those little sponges that come with it but the actual grate. In that case, you have a lot of stuff just flowing through your filter system that isn't getting taken out somewhere else. I think it might be time to add some sort of physical filtration to the mix. It may be time to add a sump so that you can do that. ...if you don't have the room, buy one of the Ocean Clear 325 Canister Filters that you maybe run every saturday for the day to clear up the water. You could run it all the time, but you would need to rinse out the filters every 3 or so days.

 

[benfinley]

Gotcha, I am assuming you don't mean those little sponges that come with it but the actual grate. In that case, you have a lot of stuff just flowing through your filter system that isn't getting taken out somewhere else. I think it might be time to add some sort of physical filtration to the mix. It may be time to add a sump so that you can do that. ...if you don't have the room, buy one of the Ocean Clear 325 Canister Filters that you maybe run every saturday for the day to clear up the water. You could run it all the time, but you would need to rinse out the filters every 3 or so days.

I'm planning on upgrading this system within the next couple months. Hopefully I can figure out how to build a new tank, stand and sump.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Gotcha, I am assuming you don't mean those little sponges that come with it but the actual grate. In that case, you have a lot of stuff just flowing through your filter system that isn't getting taken out somewhere else. I think it might be time to add some sort of physical filtration to the mix. It may be time to add a sump so that you can do that. ...if you don't have the room, buy one of the Ocean Clear 325 Canister Filters that you maybe run every saturday for the day to clear up the water. You could run it all the time, but you would need to rinse out the filters every 3 or so days.

I have the same problem with my Spectrapure reactor. I have tried putting a sponge filter on the MJ1200 intake but it didn't help much. I am going to wrap the pump in a filter sock once I bring my sump back online.

It is a problem because you need the GFO to control the detritus but the detritus clogs the reactor and keeps your GFO from working. At some point, we will get both in balance.

 

[kissman]

GFO does not control detritus, it removes PO4. Water changes, skimmers and filter socks control detritus

 

[stingleyman]

I had the same problem with the bottom of mine plugging up...I took a small drill and put a bunch of holes in the bottom disk, which has eliminated that problem. My biggest complaint is the stupid MJ600 Making so much noise. Once i start to restrict the flow with the valve, to get the proper tumbling of gfo, the stupid pump starts making noise. These pumps, IME, don't like the back pressure at all! Im gonna split a line off my return pump with a valve to run the reactor. I will just use the MJ for mixing saltwater. IMO, the brs reactors are ok, with a couple of mods, but i would wast the money on the pumps they sell with them.

 

[Terrance]

I had the same problem with the bottom of mine plugging up...I took a small drill and put a bunch of holes in the bottom disk, which has eliminated that problem. My biggest complaint is the stupid MJ600 Making so much noise. Once i start to restrict the flow with the valve, to get the proper tumbling of gfo, the stupid pump starts making noise. These pumps, IME, don't like the back pressure at all! Im gonna split a line off my return pump with a valve to run the reactor. I will just use the MJ for mixing saltwater. IMO, the brs reactors are ok, with a couple of mods, but i would wast the money on the pumps they sell with them.

I heard the MJ1200 was a good pump. I bought the reactor and MJ1200 combo. I ended up not using the MJ1200 and teeing off my return line to connect my BRS reactor with a ball valve. It works fine. No more noise than usual and its easier on my electricity bill.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

GFO does not control detritus, it removes PO4. Water changes, skimmers and filter socks control detritus

It was a short hand way of saying that the gfo limits algae, and if your tank is generating algae detritus is building up.

 

[Raptor72]

I hear what you are saying about not enough flow through the grates. I took my Dremel and knocked out every other grate and used the sponges on either end to contain the GFO, and it works just fine.