Regenerating GFO

[paraletho]

This thread has been a great help to me and my pocketbook as with many other reefers. At one time I thought it might make thread of the month, but maybe because it took off slow and developed over time. On the other hand there are plenty, among them manufacturers,retail outlets, etc. that are not happy this information is out. I would be curious to know if there was a dropoff in sales. I have one batch of Hi cap GFO that has been regenerated 6 times and still performing. Thanks to all involved.

 

[elijaher]

Some of the thread at RC is a goldmine. Such as this one.

 

[gary faulkner]

This thread has been a great help to me and my pocketbook as with many other reefers. At one time I thought it might make thread of the month, but maybe because it took off slow and developed over time. On the other hand there are plenty, among them manufacturers,retail outlets, etc. that are not happy this information is out. I would be curious to know if there was a dropoff in sales. I have one batch of Hi cap GFO that has been regenerated 6 times and still performing. Thanks to all involved.

I have also regenerated many batches (too many to count) and have saved a bundle so far.

Thanks to all who brought this about.:celeb1:

 

[tmz]

I have reused my HC gfo many times. Thanks to all

 

[sjfishguy]

"You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit."
Ronald Reagan

 

[RegalAngel]

Quick question on rinsing: I've gone through approx 15 gallons of RO/DI rinsing approx 8 cups of regenerated GFO and the water still has a brownish tint. Are folks rinsing until the brownish tint no longer happens?

Any reason for why tap water can't be used for all this rinsing?

 

[SimonSKL]

Any reason for why tap water can't be used for all this rinsing?

Tap water contains a fairly high level of phosphate. If you rinse it with tap water, your regenerated GFO will be saturated with phosphate in a hurry. All your effort in regeneration would be wasted.

I rinse my regenerated GFO with about 6-8X volume of RODI water and then test the PO4 level, if it is zero, I stop rinsing otherwise I continue.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I rinse my new GFO and GAC with tap water, but the volumes are not as large. I agree that phosphate and silicate taking up binding sites is the concern.

 

[sassyfrassy]

Boomer - I now understand your "ticking time bomb" logo - man your head's gonna explode with all that stuff in it! LOL
Carolyn

 

[timmytank]

Thankyou very much for the people behind this i am very interested. I live in the uk and po4 media is very expensive so would some one tell me the safest way of doing this . I have read through the thread but as my lack of chemistry knowledge i have lots of alarm bells going. Would you run this through a normal reactor at the rinsing stage. Thanks in advance.

 

[Roblox84]

So I didn't read through every post because there was just a lot of back and forth talk on this thread but what I got out of it is this:

Rinsing with a dilute acid (this step is likely optional for many people, see below): For every 500mL of GFO, add 8L of fresh water mixed with 6.4mL of full strength muriatic acid. Rinse for 4-6 hours and then drain.

Regeneration of GFO with sodium hydroxide: For every 500mL of GFO, add 8L of fresh water mixed with 320g of sodium hydroxide. Rinse for 72-96 hours and then drain.

Fresh water rinse with deionized water (The effectiveness of this step depends on the method you use to rinse the GFO--see the section on rinsing below for more details): For every 500mL of GFO, rinse with at least 20-25L fresh water.

Does this see correct? So I won't have to buy gfo anymore?

 

[gary faulkner]

So I didn't read through every post because there was just a lot of back and forth talk on this thread but what I got out of it is this:

Rinsing with a dilute acid (this step is likely optional for many people, see below): For every 500mL of GFO, add 8L of fresh water mixed with 6.4mL of full strength muriatic acid. Rinse for 4-6 hours and then drain.

Regeneration of GFO with sodium hydroxide: For every 500mL of GFO, add 8L of fresh water mixed with 320g of sodium hydroxide. Rinse for 72-96 hours and then drain.

Fresh water rinse with deionized water (The effectiveness of this step depends on the method you use to rinse the GFO--see the section on rinsing below for more details): For every 500mL of GFO, rinse with at least 20-25L fresh water.

Does this see correct? So I won't have to buy gfo anymore?

That's exactly what I've been doing and I'm in the camp that doesn't need the acid rinse.

HTH

 

[FlyFishJeff]

I just finished my first attempt at regenerating a batch of GFO using a BRS reactor and a bucket. Unfortunately, my first attempt was a failure! I followed the steps exactly, but I think I had the flow rate too high through the reactor during the 72 hours of regneration. My GFO was ground into dust! I realized that something wasn't right when I ran some system water through the regerated GFO and into a white bucket. The orange tinted water would not turn clear. I examined the GFO with a flashlight, and I realized that the granules were much smaller after the regeneration process. In fact, they were more like grains of sand. I tossed that batch, and I honestly don't know whether I will make a second attempt. The whole process was kind of a PITA IMO. I'm 3 weeks into vodka dosing now, and I am hoping that the carbon source dosing will eventually eliminate the need for expensive GFO.

 

[tmz]

Flyfish,

I have had good luck with the BRS high capacity gfo. It's a denser material and stands regenration well,ime. After an overnight vinegar soak and rinse I just soak it in a plastic coffee with lye solution can for 5 days with a once or twice per day for stir and rinse it about 5x with a bucket of ro water . I haven't tried regenerating it in a reactor though and would guess the bashing around in a basic solution could grind it up.
IME, dosing vodka and vinegar forthe last 2.5 yrs, carbon dosing will knock down the nitrate and lower the PO4 but I still need to use gfo to get PO4 below .05ppm , although much less gfo is needed than before dosing.

 

[mrstihl]

Forgive me if I missed it in the thread but has anyone tried using CaOH which many of use already have to regenerate GFO?

 

[tmz]

Calcium hydroxide(Ca OH) will precipitate in water as caclium carbonate and onto the gfo clogging it. Any CA OH added beyond 2 teaspoons pr gallon of fresh water ( the maximum satarution rate) will remain undissolved . The OH will grab up CO2 in the water to form CO3 ,carbonate which joins with Ca ,calcium and falls out of solution as a solid, aragonite.

 

[fishtk75]

Gfo regeneration

Gfo regeneration

I am reading the paper on Advanced Aquarist that was posted. Do you need to see inside as it is called out to use the media reactor from Bulk Reef Supply?
I asking as I have a whole house filter and some pvc valves and pvc pipe and a extra media cartridge laying around that I can use. I did not know if the acid would eat at it. Also the filters in the Cartridge they eat away from the acid?

 

[d0ughb0y]

I just use my media reactor as is (I use TLF), so whatever media reactor you use for GFO. you can just take that out and run acid (I only use vinegar, it is good enough), then NaOH, then RODI then just put it back online.

vinegar I only had to run once. the next time I regenerated, there was hardly any bubbles from vinegar reaction, so as the article says, acid wash is optional.
Then I run the NaOH solution through the reactor for 48 hours, and then run RODI to rinse out the NaOH after that. Then it is ready to be put back online. So that's about 3 days. I am still on my same 1 cup of GFO for months already.

 

[fishtk75]

I just use my media reactor as is (I use TLF), so whatever media reactor you use for GFO. you can just take that out and run acid (I only use vinegar, it is good enough), then NaOH, then RODI then just put it back online.

vinegar I only had to run once. the next time I regenerated, there was hardly any bubbles from vinegar reaction, so as the article says, acid wash is optional.
Then I run the NaOH solution through the reactor for 48 hours, and then run RODI to rinse out the NaOH after that. Then it is ready to be put back online. So that's about 3 days. I am still on my same 1 cup of GFO for months already.

So we do not need to see inside to see the GFO is moving around?
Also calls for maxijet 400 at 106gph that is the set flow that it needs to be?

 

[d0ughb0y]

I am not sure I understand your question. I use TLF reactor so I see the GFO moving/tumbling inside the reactor. Or do you mean with BRS reactors, you cannot see inside? Perhaps you can rephrase your question.

yes, I use a maxijet 400. just use whatever pump you use while the GFO is online.