BRS High Capacity or Regular GFO?

revhtree · Mar 14, 2016

For those of you that use the BRS brand of Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO) do you use the High Capacity or the regular?

Why?

000621-High-Capacity-HC-GFO-Aquarium-Phosphate-Remover-Granular-Ferric-Oxide-grouped-a_1.jpg

CodyRVA · Mar 14, 2016

Regular; because it's half the price and I got the results I was after with the regular, saw no reason to spend the extra $.

akitareefer · Mar 14, 2016

I don't even like running the regular. I might use the high capacity on a FOWLR. Dropping the po4 too quickly can really irritate coral, not to mention the drop in alk does that too.

G8trBait16 · Mar 14, 2016

I have used both, but I currently use the High Capacity. Just for the fact of the less dust, seems to last longer and don't have to use as much.

CodyRVA · Mar 14, 2016

akitareefer said:
I don't even like running the regular. I might use the high capacity on a FOWLR. Dropping the po4 too quickly can really irritate coral, not to mention the drop in alk does that too.

I've recently debated pulling GFO from my system entirely. I ran out and ran just pellets for a few weeks; the coloring and growth in my corals exploded. I was battling super low nutrient issues prior.

Reef Junky150 · Mar 14, 2016

G8trBait16 said:
I have used both, but I currently use the High Capacity. Just for the fact of the less dust, seems to last longer and don't have to use as much.

I run regular, my outlet of the reactor has it's own filter sock because of the same issue.

jason2459 · Mar 14, 2016

When I've used GFO and if I used it on a continual basis it would be the high capacity variety.

It may be more expensive up front but it holds up to regenation a lot better. I'm up to 5 or 6 if I remember right regenation cycles now and it is still in decent shape and could be regenerated more. I don't normally use GFO so I don't see having to buy more for a long time. I've heard of some being able to regenerate HC GFO up to 10 times.

raultsu · Mar 15, 2016

I've used both. Prefer the high capacity because of less dust and lasts the same as the regular stuff

Luvs501s · Mar 16, 2016

jason2459 said:
When I've used GFO and if I used it on a continual basis it would be the high capacity variety.

It may be more expensive up front but it holds up to regenation a lot better. I'm up to 5 or 6 if I remember right regenation cycles now and it is still in decent shape and could be regenerated more. I don't normally use GFO so I don't see having to buy more for a long time. I've heard of some being able to regenerate HC GFO up to 10 times.

Excuse my ignorance, I'm rather new to this and I was wondering how you go about regenerating GFO. I've switched to Rowa due to the dust problem with regular GFO and have had good results but the cost is a little high and if I could regenerate the BRS High Capacity GFO that would help tremendously.

Sabellafella · Mar 16, 2016

Yea i agree the regular is more dusty but if your going to spend the money, get rowa

AlexStinson · Mar 16, 2016

I just use the regular, I can't imagine the performance difference justifies the doubling in price.

jsanchez · Mar 16, 2016

AlexStinson said:
I just use the regular, I can't imagine the performance difference justifies the doubling in price.

The performance difference is that high capacity is just as its name says. You use half as much to achieve the same results. You also get less dust. Not having to change out my go as often and using less is always worth the price difference. I used the high capacity before I switched to an algae scrubber as my sole Filtration.

AlexStinson · Mar 16, 2016

So, seems like a '6 of one half a dozen of the other' kind of situation to me.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 16, 2016

Luvs501s said:
Excuse my ignorance, I'm rather new to this and I was wondering how you go about regenerating GFO. I've switched to Rowa due to the dust problem with regular GFO and have had good results but the cost is a little high and if I could regenerate the BRS High Capacity GFO that would help tremendously.

Here's an article that describes it:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/10/chemistry

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 16, 2016

I'm not entirely sure whether it is cost effective to use the high capacity or not. I've used both, but I've never seen good data on exactly how much capacity for each actually gets used in typical reef applications. For example, if in the water too long, it may become covered in bacteria or calcium carbonate before the capacity is used by phosphate.

Some people prefer it for its physical properties (like harder and less dust) at least as much as its capacity, however.

Downbeach · Mar 16, 2016

Here's a copy/paste from another thread with my experience with these products:
I had a very stable system, i.e. bio mass, bio load, feeding habits, etc. I've used both the regular and the HC, and found the HC to be a bit more more cost effective. In my case using the regular I would get about 6 to 7 weeks of use before my PO4 would start to increase, when I switched to the HC using half the amount vs the regular, I would get about 8 to 9 weeks. Measurement were done with a Hanna checker(HI736).
Another use where the HC might be a better choice, due to the need for half the amount of media would be: when mixing both GAC and GFO in the same reactor, either mixed together(running the reactor in reverse flow) or separated by sponges(with enough flow to keep the GFO fluidized).

Waters · Mar 16, 2016

I use the High Capacity only because my reactor isn't big enough to hold enough of the regular for my tank and still achieve the proper flow.

jason2459 · Mar 16, 2016

Luvs501s said:
Excuse my ignorance, I'm rather new to this and I was wondering how you go about regenerating GFO. I've switched to Rowa due to the dust problem with regular GFO and have had good results but the cost is a little high and if I could regenerate the BRS High Capacity GFO that would help tremendously.

Randy pointed out the link. I will point out to be extremely careful and to not let animals or children near it.

And I have no clue how much more capacity it has over regular GFO. Its purely the physical properties that I want and allows it to be much cheaper over time. I've gotten 3 or 4 regenerations out of regular GFO. I haven't hit the limit on HC yet. But it should be at least double that and a bit more from where I'm already at and from what I'm told from a reliable source that's done it 10 times already with the HC.