a.browning
New member
Rather than run both at the same time, does it hurt to run carbon 2 weeks then GFO 2 weeks and switch off? I have one reactor and was wondering if this would be feasable. Thanks!
Gac/gfo
- Thread starter a.browning
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pmrossetti
Active member
Sure, why not. Randy (RC chemist) runs pellet gfo and carbon in one reactor if I recall.
GFO has a useful life of a few months running in a reactor
Have you used GFO and found it to last a few months in your system while still being effective? That seems somewhat unlikely to me. Even if it was not depleted in its phosphate binding in a few weeks (which would only happen in a system with very low phosphate to begin with), I'd expect it to be covered by organics and bacteria in a few weeks, preventing further use as a phosphate binder.
If phosphate is elevated, GFO can be depleted in a few hours. It all depends on how much phosphate the system is delivering to the GFO. I replace my GFO in about 2 weeks, and I replace most (but not all) of the GAC at the same time.
Have you used GFO and found it to last a few months in your system while still being effective? That seems somewhat unlikely to me. Even if it was not depleted in its phosphate binding in a few weeks (which would only happen in a system with very low phosphate to begin with), I'd expect it to be covered by organics and bacteria in a few weeks, preventing further use as a phosphate binder.
If phosphate is elevated, GFO can be depleted in a few hours. It all depends on how much phosphate the system is delivering to the GFO. I replace my GFO in about 2 weeks, and I replace most (but not all) of the GAC at the same time.
Yep.
Happy Reefing.
Happy Reefing.
dzhuo
Active member
Which is why I wonder why OP would want to go through the trouble of constant switching. When I was running GFO / ROX, they were in the same reactor and I changed them out every 2 to 3 weeks (regardless).
I agree it seems complicated and possibly would cause some unnecessary uneveness in phosphate and organic levels over time.
a.browning
New member
Sounds like it's good to run both at the same time! I had just always heard the GFO needs to "tumble" while the carbon should have a different flow rate. If it's fine to put them both in there then that's what I'll do.
I run them both untumbling in a cannister filter. I use pellet forms of both to help prevent compaction issues.
