High Capacity GFO...burnt tips

[EricTheRed]

This might be an odd question but is there there anything unusual about running high-capacity gfo.... my phosphates were at 0.7 a few weeks back so I decided to run some GFO. I usually run the cheap stuff but this time I splurged and went with some high capacity from BRS. I used the recommended amount and the phosphates now read 0.02 on my hanna. All seems well otherwise except I noticed some of my acros getting burnt tips and i can't seem to figure it out. I'm not carbon dosing and I'm only running my halides for 4 hours and 4xT5 for 8 hours so they shouldn't be getting fried. Alk is at 8.15 and hasn't spiked recently. Also noteworthy to mention that i had the acros in another tank for weekly aefw dippings and then put them back into my dt about 3 weeks ago. I lost a few and some are not doing well. Some are also doing very well and have clolored back up But there are still a few that are thin and faded. There are a few with burnt tips , mostly on those that have not colored up yet. When I reintroduced them to the dt I ran the halides for 3 hours then bumped them up by 30 minutes each week since. I was dipping with Coral Rx. I'm leaning towards them just not being healthy from the aefw tx but figured it couldn't hurt to see if there is anything unusual I shoud know about high-capacity gfo, thanks.

 

[kevensquint]

Acros are delicate with fast PO4 drops. You could try to let Alk slide down to 7.5 , although 8.1 is not too high. IME to help them recover keep alk low and reduce light intensity until they heal. I personally don't use GFO anymore for burnt tips/ pale acros. Or next time use a tiny amount to drop PO4 slowly.

 

[Alabamareef]

Nothing special about HC GFO. Might be a bug or flat worms...

 

[Alabamareef]

Acros are delicate with fast PO4 drops. You could try to let Alk slide down to 7.5 , although 8.1 is not too high. IME to help them recover keep alk low and reduce light intensity until they heal. I personally don't use GFO anymore for burnt tips/ pale acros. Or next time use a tiny amount to drop PO4 slowly.

GFO should not cause burnt tips or pale acros... More like an unstable enviornment. Also thats not a bad drop in P04 if its not an every other weak issue. Stability is the key.....

 

[kevensquint]

Disagree. There has been many others commenting on similar problems of this variety with GFO and SPS. If you google it, you will see.

 

[Moonlightreef]

Acros are delicate with fast PO4 drops. You could try to let Alk slide down to 7.5 , although 8.1 is not too high. IME to help them recover keep alk low and reduce light intensity until they heal. I personally don't use GFO anymore for burnt tips/ pale acros. Or next time use a tiny amount to drop PO4 slowly.

same here , i stop running GFO do to low PO4 levels . This happens to me every time run GFO

 

[EricTheRed]

interesting info, thanks. I think I'll let this batch of gfo run it's course and I'll go back to no gfo.

 

[Alabamareef]

Disagree. There has been many others commenting on similar problems of this variety with GFO and SPS. If you google it, you will see.

I'll bet if you read through most of those articles the people are also carbon dosing. There's nothing in GFO that will burn the tips on your Accros.

 

[Alabamareef]

same here , i stop running GFO do to low PO4 levels . This happens to me every time run GFO

Is that not what everyone wants in an SPS system, low P04.

 

[Sahin]

Disagree. There has been many others commenting on similar problems of this variety with GFO and SPS. If you google it, you will see.

+1 NEVER use the BRS recommended amount of HC GFO especially in an SPS tank. Always start at aroun 1/4 amount and increase to 1/2 over 10-14 days. Then switch out weekly if required, rather than using a large amount at once.

 

[Alabamareef]

Maybe I'm missing something here. I still say GFO weather HC or not alone does not burn SPS. If carbon dosing along with this I understand. All the HC is suppose to do is remove P04 faster. Yes if you have high P04, say 0.9 or and drop it over night it's not optimal but still will not burn SPS. Stability is best! So I'm asking if you've got an article that talks about GFO burning tips, ALONE no carbon dosing, could you please PM or post it.

 

[pelagic]

This might be an odd question but is there there anything unusual about running high-capacity gfo.... my phosphates were at 0.7 a few weeks back so I decided to run some GFO. I usually run the cheap stuff but this time I splurged and went with some high capacity from BRS. I used the recommended amount and the phosphates now read 0.02 on my hanna. All seems well otherwise except I noticed some of my acros getting burnt tips and i can't seem to figure it out. I'm not carbon dosing and I'm only running my halides for 4 hours and 4xT5 for 8 hours so they shouldn't be getting fried. Alk is at 8.15 and hasn't spiked recently. Also noteworthy to mention that i had the acros in another tank for weekly aefw dippings and then put them back into my dt about 3 weeks ago. I lost a few and some are not doing well. Some are also doing very well and have clolored back up But there are still a few that are thin and faded. There are a few with burnt tips , mostly on those that have not colored up yet. When I reintroduced them to the dt I ran the halides for 3 hours then bumped them up by 30 minutes each week since. I was dipping with Coral Rx. I'm leaning towards them just not being healthy from the aefw tx but figured it couldn't hurt to see if there is anything unusual I shoud know about high-capacity gfo, thanks.

What's your nitrate reading? I will say it's darn high since your phosphate was at 0.7.
It might be caused by NP imbalance https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI?t=24m14s

 

[EricTheRed]

My trates float between 0.25 and 1ppm...which is right where I want them. I do not want them to be zero. I'll take a look at your link when I have 36 minutes of free time tonight

 

[EricTheRed]

Maybe I'm missing something here. I still say GFO weather HC or not alone does not burn SPS. If carbon dosing along with this I understand. All the HC is suppose to do is remove P04 faster. Yes if you have high P04, say 0.9 or and drop it over night it's not optimal but still will not burn SPS. Stability is best! So I'm asking if you've got an article that talks about GFO burning tips, ALONE no carbon dosing, could you please PM or post it.

Alabama, I have never heard anything or seen anything either. Thank you for confirming that the only difference between the HC and regular is how quickly it works.

 

[Alabamareef]

Wow, Look some people within your thread stated things about GFO and burnt SPS. Thats my point and glad your confirmed that... Just trying to give you some advice from the issue at hand. I did not say you, ETR, had told me about the GFO and burnt tips but some other within this thread have. So take your 36 free minutes tonight and reread what people are saying within your thread.. Best of luck....

 

[Moonlightreef]

Maybe I'm missing something here. I still say GFO weather HC or not alone does not burn SPS. If carbon dosing along with this I understand. All the HC is suppose to do is remove P04 faster. Yes if you have high P04, say 0.9 or and drop it over night it's not optimal but still will not burn SPS. Stability is best! So I'm asking if you've got an article that talks about GFO burning tips, ALONE no carbon dosing, could you please PM or post it.

there is couple of reasons why GFO can cause burn tips . Lets say if you have a system that has PO4 very close to zero then you running GFO is taking a chance to strip the water all the way witch cause the burn tips . Also running GFO to much to fast can make your water way to clean where the light panatraits even stronger witch also can cause burn tips

 

[Stoneyman]

I had a bunch of tips burn recently. Not sure what it was cuz same gfo batch been running for months. Maybe alk swing. Do the tips recover or are we supposed to snip off ? Or is the coral doomed?

 

[Moonlightreef]

I had a bunch of tips burn recently. Not sure what it was cuz same gfo batch been running for months. Maybe alk swing. Do the tips recover or are we supposed to snip off ? Or is the coral doomed?

if the burn tips are covered with algae then tip them off for faster recovery , thats why i did.