GFO spilled into tank

[Jah2707]

So I got a different brand of GFO then I am used to. (cheap stuff from amazon) I use a two little fishs reactor just FYI. When it arrived I thought it was a bit on the small side so I ran it in the reactor in a bucket with some RO water to flush it out and then added the reactor to the tank. Now I am noticing that my nice white sand has quite a bit of the GFO granules on it and in my sump.

Should I be worried? Do i need to try to remove? If so how would I go about this? Also should I add another filter in the reactor?

I only used 1/3 of a cup to start out with and was going to see how it went from there. I also added 1/3 of carbon but it was larger so no problem with it escaping.

I guess has anyone else had this happen and what did you do?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[slief]

I would remove it if you can. You can either siphon it out as the particles should be smaller than the sand or try moving a magnet across the surface of the sand such as those used to clean your viewing panes or even a rare earth magnet.

 

[MikeyAl]

What would be the impact it is not removed? I don't know so am asking.


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[Jah2707]

MikeyAl that is exactly what I am wanting to know.

 

[slief]

What would be the impact it is not removed? I don't know so am asking.


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GFO is iron oxide.. I don't know what the impact would be if it's left in the tank for long periods of time. While we do run it in our reactors, it's contained in there and replaced on a regular basis. Regardless of the ramifications, I would attempt to remove as much of it as possible as it certainly isn't doing any good in the tank. It's likely to discolor/rust the sand. A magnet should make quick work of it.

 

[moatdaddy]

maybe start a new thread in reef chemistry, with a title of long term effect of gfo in sump/sand. there are some science types who only post in that section.

 

[MikeyAl]

Okay. Here is what I learned:
Some folks will actually dose GFO directly into their tanks - although it doesn't seem to be a best practice. However it will settle out without any long-term effects.
That being said, it will attract to magnets and thus pumps should be cleaned after a big dosage of GFO.


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[shadycloud]

Magnet = brilliant idea mate! I happened to have a magnet I ripped out of a hard drive the other day laying around. Quick work indeed.

 

[mandarin_goby]

What would be the impact it is not removed? I don't know so am asking.


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I lost a ton of corals when the dust coated them :/ It was all over the glass and even the water was tinted brown. Never using that stuff again. I think the flow I was using was too strong, or it wasn't rinsed completely. Either way, no mo GFO fo me. Fish were perfectly fine though.

 

[Jah2707]

Hmm. I wasn't able to get mine out but it didnt cause any problems that i am aware of. Corals have been just fine so far.

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[dleute]

Is anyone worried about exposure of strong magnet materials to the reef aquarium? I had the same GFO issue. Not much was spilled but I would like to get as much out as possible. It is obviously very temporary exposure, but the magnet coating is nickel which isn't good for reef aquariums.

Also, I need to use a magnet stick, and I don't know the metals it is made out of. I can't epoxy that.

Thoughts?

 

[Scarface8]

GFO spilled into tank

Wrap it in a bag, use some elastic band so it won't have any direct contact with the water, even though it would probably be fine for such a very short amount of time