GFO question

[saltwaterpicaso]

since adding a GfO reactor a few weeks ago my glass gets a light brown powdery coating everyday now and my sand looks a little light brown too is it diatoms or something is this normal

 

[JPerkins2]

Did you rinse really well? The flow may be too high and it is pulverizing the GFO if you have rinsed well. Sounds like the GFO dust.

 

[downbeach]

Flow through the reactor should be just enough to keep the media from clumping. Kind of like a slow boil in appearance. Does your reactor have sponges in it?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

What are your water parameters? How is the tank from an overall health perspective? Any other forms of pest algae present? Why did you add the reactor and has it solved the problem you were targeting with it?

It's entirely possible that by reducing phosphate you have given an advantage to a different set of life forms that were previously outcompeted by something else that is now phosphate limited (i.e. this may be diatoms replacing some other form of pest algae).

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

i set it up becouse of cyano becouse i beleive my rocks are leaching phosphates. i did rinse it very well and yes there is sponges i have the flow set to very lightly the surface is kinda like a wavy pond or a light boil i dont think its getting pulverized its so light of flow if i was to adjust it any lighter there would be no flow

 

[pascal32]

What are your nitrate and phosphate #s, along with the test kits you are using?

What are the specs on the tank? Return pump and skimmer? Lighting and lighting schedule?

Lastly can you post a tank pic with a list of power heads you are using?

 

[Bluephish13]

Sounds like diatoms, i have seen this in my own tank with gfo. I got rid of most of my sugar sized sand bed and it has since disappeared. Never grew on the rocks just the glass and the sugar sized sand.

Locate the source of p04 do what you can to eliminate it naturally and just use the GFO to clean up your low range po4.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

yeah its just glass and rocks. the source is the rock itself i had the tank running for over a year with no ro water and a very bad skimmer so i think the rock sucked it all up. i have been using ro di water for about 6 months and using a mrc skimmer for about 9 months so everything is up to par tank is 2 years old

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

How are you measuring phosphate and what values are you getting? Are you measuring any other nutrients (i.e. nitrate)? What values are you getting?

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

everything is showing close to zero i think becouse i have some cyano and thats eating it up

 

[AmherstReef]

My rank has been up for s year and a Hali, I run GFO and yet I still gave brown/green algae dust on my glass and sand bed