Regenerating GFO
- Thread starter tatuvaaj
- Start date
anyone able to confirm if this will work to regenerate?
http://www.amazon.com/CROWN-Making-Award-Winning-Handcrafted-NON-FOOD/dp/B0084UUG16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457622968&sr=8-1&keywords=lye
also what do you all use to rinse the GFO. Do you keep it in the bucket and flush with rodi a few times or do you place gfo in a strainer and rinse with rodi?
http://www.amazon.com/CROWN-Making-Award-Winning-Handcrafted-NON-FOOD/dp/B0084UUG16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457622968&sr=8-1&keywords=lye
also what do you all use to rinse the GFO. Do you keep it in the bucket and flush with rodi a few times or do you place gfo in a strainer and rinse with rodi?
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drsalomon
Member
I have used it now for a few years now to regenerate the GFO. I always wash extensively with 2x5gal of RODI after the two day NaOH treatment and have not noticed any problems that I could attribute to regeneration with my SPS and LPS. I use the BRS reactor to treat with lye and to wash with RODI. I did do a triton test a half a year ago of the tank water and there were no concerns with elevated trace heavy elements. High capacity GFO can shock the system by pulling out phosphate too quickly so I usually reduce the flow through the reactor to a minimal level for the first few days after I replace it.
I have not tried to regenerate without using an upflow reactor. Not sure how they compare to just incubation of GFO in bulk in a bucket The mj1200 on the upflow reactor does tend to get thrashed by the caustic solution. I had to replace the pump once in the 2 years I have been doing this.
I am able to regenerate ~10 times before the hc GFO gets too degraded. It actually turns out to be much cheaper than buying new low grade GFO from ebay and just swapping it out instead of regenerating.
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Darth Vedder
Sith Lord
I regenerated my first batch of BRS high capacity GFO last week, and definstly worked, but when I put the canister back in my tank both of my skimmers went and I had to adjust them quite a bit to keep them from overfilling in minutes. After about 1 day I was able to put them back to where they were
Is this common or did I not rinse the media with RODI thoroughly?
Is this common or did I not rinse the media with RODI thoroughly?
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drsalomon
Member
Did you notice a ph change when you put the GFO back in your system?
Are you treating with lye in a brs reactor? I use a brs reactor and treat about 3 cups of HC GFO with 3 gallons of the lye solution for 2 days and then wash with 10 gallon of RODI through the reactor to waste. I have not seen an impact on skimmer.
Also it is very important to greatly reduce the flow through the regenerated GFO in the reactor for the first two days to prevent shocking your system. The BRS HC GFO is really powerful stuff and I have seen countless times the triggering of STN on sensitive SPS coral if you put the new HC GFO in the reactor at full blast. I usually flow it at just a trickle for the first few days.
Darth Vedder
Sith Lord
Yes I did regenerate it in a BRS style reactor. I made it myself with a filter canister and use the clear inserts BRS sells
I used lye and circulated that in a bucket for 4 days and rinsed with about 15-20 gallons of rodi water
Before I put it back in I tested the effluent of the rodi rinse with a Hanna UL phosphate Checker and it was 0 so I assumed it was rinsed
I didn't notice any oh spoke, just that the skimmers were producing a lot of foam (pretty much white and clean) so I had to crank the gate valves way down and by the next day I had to rank them back up to get anything to go up into the cup
I have the canister from the system regenerating now so when I switch it out next time I'll pay closer attention to see if it happens again and what else may be noticeable
It was almost like soap bubbles at first, thought it was odd but everything seems happy and phosphates were 0.04 for the tank the next day (was about 0.12 when I changed out cartridges)
Flow rate through the reactor is slow, using about 1.5-2 cups of HC GFO for 200 gallons of water in my multitask system
I used lye and circulated that in a bucket for 4 days and rinsed with about 15-20 gallons of rodi water
Before I put it back in I tested the effluent of the rodi rinse with a Hanna UL phosphate Checker and it was 0 so I assumed it was rinsed
I didn't notice any oh spoke, just that the skimmers were producing a lot of foam (pretty much white and clean) so I had to crank the gate valves way down and by the next day I had to rank them back up to get anything to go up into the cup
I have the canister from the system regenerating now so when I switch it out next time I'll pay closer attention to see if it happens again and what else may be noticeable
It was almost like soap bubbles at first, thought it was odd but everything seems happy and phosphates were 0.04 for the tank the next day (was about 0.12 when I changed out cartridges)
Flow rate through the reactor is slow, using about 1.5-2 cups of HC GFO for 200 gallons of water in my multitask system
jason2459
Well-known member
Are you using regular GFO or High Capacity? The HC GFO holds up much better IMO. Regular turned to mush for me as well when I tried it.
dja1980
Active member
Yep, I've heard others say the regular GFO turns to mush... you need to use the HC stuff if you want to regenerate. It's pricey upfront (1 gallon from BRS is around $130), but it comes out more cost effective if you're planning to regenerate. I've got about 2 gallons of the BRS HC stuff that I've been planning to regenerate, and I just don't have the time to mess with right now... so I've been buying the regular stuff and tossing it once it's exhausted. I'll probably just end up selling the exhausted HC stuff.
ostrow
It's Dr. Goodluck Himself
Oh, even without an acid wash it goes to mush? grr..
dja1980
Active member
Oh wow... good to know! I continue to use PA for a lot of my dry goods, but all my bulk supplies come from BRS. I had even asked them at one point if they would consider selling bulk lye for regeneration purposes, but they said it wasn't worth the safety concerns compared to a few dollars in GFO.
dkeller_nc
New member
BTW, I can't speak for other countries, but if you're in the US, lye is easy to get. You can have it shipped to you from any number of 'net sources, because it's not only used for opening drains (the reason hardware stores carry it), but also in artisanal soap-making and various food processing uses.
ostrow
It's Dr. Goodluck Himself
You know, that'd be awesome. The HC is more pricey so if I can't get the process to work right I'll just stick with the disposable....
Maybe try and hook up next week if you are free? PM/EM me...
longtruong521
New member
What kind and where (online) are you guys buying lye from?
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