Interested in Maybe Using GFO

[power boat jim]

I have never used GFO before. My tank is mostly sps and I feel my tank is a ULNS. I have zero NO3 and PO4 on Salifert test kit, but my color is not great on my corals. I lose color on most corals that go in to the tank. The tank is 9 onths old. This is why i think ULNS.
The reason for the GFO is despite everything I listed with my system, I have a strong algea problem. Its a weird algea that is bubbly and brown. Its not like green bubble algea, but its a frilly soft bubbly algea.

I was thinking GFO might help.

Your tank is 9 months old. Have you ever had any success since the beginnig in keeping sps? Its possible the tank parameters are still wobbling around some since the tank is still fairly new. I know it takes an experienced sps keepers at least 6 months to get a new tank stable enough to keep them. Instead of playing chemical tug of war why not just let the tank run a couple more months without any new additions and see where you are at.


Patients can be the best fix money doesnt have to buy!!

 

[krzyphsygy]

I received my Hanna Phosphate checker and did my test. Today it read 0.00. When I first got it a couple days ago it read 0.03. So I am some where in between. I tested before lights on because i hear thats the best time to test phos.

So with 0.00 on my NO3 test (Salifert) and 0.00 on phos, Its apparent I am starving the corals. Weird thing is I had a decent amount amount algae growth in the tank, so while this thread was going a week or two ago, I decided to add carbon to my set up that I have never used before, I also turned off my skimmer and algae is almost gone. Its totally going away.
I wanted to dirty up the tank to try and feed the corals. My skimmer was not pulling out much because there is nothing. I have 6 fish in a 125 and was feeding once a day.

I have 4 fish in QT right now getting ready to go in a week or so and started feeding 3x a day.

We will see what happens I guess.

Thoughts??

 

[mic209]

So here is a snap shot of the worst are of the tank. Can anyone ID this algae. I have never seen it before in any tank nor have I ever has the algae before.

My tank is growing a similar algae and nobody has been able to give me a positive ID. I have been able to keep it in check by basting the rocks once a week and siphoning out what I can during a water change. If I go a couple weeks without siphoning it, it almost takes over.

 

[FlyPenFly]

I'm having major alkalinity issues because I used too much GFO at once. Something about adding my GFO reactor is causing very heavy precipitation and I'm getting thick coatings of carbonate on my glass, heater, everything.

 

[tmz]

I really can't see the algae well in the photo but if i's brown, going after PO4 may not help. Manual removal and a natural predator if you can figure out what eats it would be be my first reach. Blowing out detritus accumulations if any out too. Feeding your fish well should break the double 0 situation if its truly 0 or you could try some coral foods like coral frenzy for spot feeding. If you are dosing iron or iodine, I'd pull back on that.

 

[nysbadmk8]

Your losing colour because your running UNLS, your corals are starving.

You can run gfo to help your algae problem, But I doubt thats the root of all issues here.

 

[tmz]

I'm having major alkalinity issues because I used too much GFO at once. Something about adding my GFO reactor is causing very heavy precipitation and I'm getting thick coatings of carbonate on my glass, heater, everything.

There are a few of reasons that can happen:

PO4 slows precipitation of calcium carbonate both biotic and a biotic precipitation by affecting the growth of the calcium carbonate crystals. Thus it affects skeletogeniss in calcfying organisms and reduces a biotic precipitation . This is is one of the reasons we try to manage PO4 ( surface nsw is less than .01ppm ) as well as to limit green algae and cyanobacteria. So depleting it rapidly via excesive gfo use can lessen the amount of calcium and carbonate that can stay in solution as it will no longer slow it down.

Iron, Fe may contribute to precipitation levels as well. So, if the gfo is releasing fines or Fe in other ways it can increase precipitation.

These effects are more likely in a water where alk and ph and temperature are high sideand initially high PO4 levels are reduced rapidly. Magnesium may also help reduce preciptation and hellp keep more carbonate and calcium in solution.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Yup my alk was 10 Dkh but my mg was also very high at 1480+ because I was at the tail end of fighting bryopsis.

I went from a CPR mini reactor to a vertex rxu 1.5 filled with way more gfo. My po4 though wasn't that high around .05-.08 since I also use some phosguard.

I flushed the reactor in rodi for a few hours before hooking it into my system.

All my sps are showing base recession from the all swing and I'm having a hell of a time keeping my alk at even 9. It keeps dropping down to 7. This is with the reactor offline now.

 

[krzyphsygy]

Your losing colour because your running UNLS, your corals are starving.

You can run gfo to help your algae problem, But I doubt thats the root of all issues here.

I believe the root cause is two things, not enough fish, and started with dry rock. The rock had no life on it other than what I got from a few or pieces I used. The rock is not productive at all and it takes time to get it that way

 

[tmz]

Dry rock can leach back PO4 too. Pssoibly some dissoving oprganics. I cure it before use just like live rock,persoaly.

 

[tmz]

Nice dog, love the merle color. I have 2 border collies; a black and white male and a tri color female;brother and sister.

 

[krzyphsygy]

Thanks, my girl Dakota. Austrailian Shepard. Best dog breed I have ever had. Border Collies are very nice as well. Super smart

 

[rtparty]

Don't mean to derail the thread but I love the aussies!

Here is mine, tri color male:

 

[krzyphsygy]

Beautiful dog! Is he a mini or full size?

 

[rtparty]

Haha I love the head resting on the couch! Whenever mine wants something he rests his head down like that on random furniture and just stares me down.

Mine is a full size but a little small for full grown. He was 45 pounds last I checked.