Tank turned cloudy after starting GFO

[DragonFish]

I started running GFO a few days ago in a TLF Reactor hanging on my tank. I rinsed the GFO and the surface is just tumbling as directed. A couple days into it the tank started looking a little cloudy. Its usually very clear. Is this normal? The only other thing I run is a hang on skimmer and don't dose any other chemicals. I started using GFO to fight an algae outbreak.

 

[Automatt]

i have heard a few people have the same problem then it cleared up and everything went back to normal. im goin to start a reactor soon so ill be checkin up to see how yours goes.

 

[tiff393]

What brand is the GFO?

 

[cet98]

FWIW, this is what I do to alleviate that issue...
I change my GFO/Carbon reactor just after a water change...
I save the old water in a 5 gal bucket (doesn't have to be a full bucket) and then after I rinse my GFO & Carbon, I run the reactor on the 5gal bucket of old water for a little while until the water clears...
then I put it on my DT

HTH some

 

[DragonFish]

Its bulk reef supply.

 

[HighlandReef]

chances are the fines made it into the tank, for gfo you just want the top surface of the gfo to tumble slowly, i also let the new gfo rinse in a 5 gallon bucket before i put it on the main system, that way it gets a good rinse before it hits the tank.
sounds like it just wasnt rinsed well enuf but it will clear up once the dust settles

 

[XtremeFromHell]

Maybe it is tumbling to much and it is breaking into smaller finer pieces. It pretty tricky to get it right.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

+3 on the rinsing.

I take my reactor to my sink and clean it out, then after putting the new media I rinse it for a couple minutes.

I then just toss it on my tank and call it a day.

 

[DgenR8]

I filter the output from my GFO reactor. Even days after I change the GFO, I catch fine particles.

 

[gig]

I run filter bags into my sump, when I change out the GFO I rinse it, then I place the output of the reactor in one of the filterbags for the next day to catch any additional fines.

btw, I thought that running GFO initially can cause bacterial blooms, or is that bio pellets?

 

[DragonFish]

I think that's bio pellets, which I'm switching over to as soon as I use up all this GFO. I have noticed that since I've been using the GFO, my algae hasn't improved much and I have to clean the glass every day now. Used to be every few days. I'm going to try to add carbon after the GFO.

 

[badazztealcobra]

I always just did my water change through my reactor when I started a new batch of GFO.... It takes awhile since it goes slowly through the reactor, but all the fine particles always seemed to wash out.... basically like rinsing it with 20g of saltwater.... :thumbsup:

Did those screens make it up there yet ??? USPS can be slow sometimes.... LOL

 

[DragonFish]

Actually I had totally forgotten about the screens, then the other day I found an envelope on top of my buffet with my name on it and I was totally baffled as to what I had ordered. After I opened it I figured out what it was Thanks again!