I have a Phosban 150 Reactor. Wondering can I mix GFO & Carbon together and run them in the reactor? Id be using an mj400 pump.
Mixing GFO & Carbon?
- Thread starter NanaReefer
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I do this on my 29 gallon in the same reactor. As the above post indicates check out BRS's Youtube video. Just tumble low and realize you will be not getting the full useful "lifespan" of your GFO as your carbon is going to need replacing more often. That said it totally works.
prsnlty
Jackie
I've done this for smaller systems. There are other issues also. Carbon tends to be used up faster than gfo. So what I did was 70-80% gac % 30- 20% gfo. This way I wasn't wasting the gfo. So 7-8 parts carbon to 2-3 parts gfo. Depending on the tanks needs
OP
OP
So the GFO has to actually tumble? Can anyone share the BRS link as I cannot find it.
OP
OP
Via Salifert my PO4 is .0 my NO3 is 2.5. How am I to know if the GFO is working to rid my tank of PO4? I've got HA going on so I know something is feeding it.
They actually recommend that when you mix carbon and GFO to not let it tumble as the GFO is harder than the carbon and will grind it to dust. I usually mix the two in an 80% carbon and 20% GFO ratio and then put sponges directly above and below the media mix so it won't tumble.
prsnlty
Jackie
As you know I've had the same issue. However I have zero po4 and 0 and 03 trying to strip it all. And it's been like that for months yet I still have hair algae which I think is bryopsis and not actually hair algae even though it looks similar. Just run the gfo and carbon it could be that the algae is eating it up faster so fast that you're not getting a reading on it.
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Nice video!
IMO, lowering the nutrints is only the first step. once the numbers are low, get the invader out. crabs snails toothbrush whatever. I stripped the nutrints out of my tanks so hard this year my zoas about croaked and the shrooms shriveled. And no, the algae did not die. I did beef the cuc and it work amazingly well.
Bryo is a different thing altogeter, it has more feeding strategies than nutrient absorption. So far aside from manual and chemical and PH treatments for bryo, the chestnut cowrie seems to be working best. My nudi did a pretty good just but only one in a 55g was def not enough.
and yes, GFO works fine with a laminar flow as you would carbon
Bryo is a different thing altogeter, it has more feeding strategies than nutrient absorption. So far aside from manual and chemical and PH treatments for bryo, the chestnut cowrie seems to be working best. My nudi did a pretty good just but only one in a 55g was def not enough.
and yes, GFO works fine with a laminar flow as you would carbon
I would not use both in the same reactor. gfo needs to tumble slightly and you don't want carbon to tumble at all.
And it's not true that carbon needs replacing more often than gfo. the depletion rates will vary from tank to tank. typically carbon should be replaced monthly and gfo can be exhausted within three days.
And it's not true that carbon needs replacing more often than gfo. the depletion rates will vary from tank to tank. typically carbon should be replaced monthly and gfo can be exhausted within three days.
OP
OP
Thanks everyone, got some direction now. [emoji2][emoji1360]
cjd
Well-Known Member
Agreed, You do not tumble the GFO when combining it with carbon. The reason why you tumble GFO alone is to prevent it from becoming a solid mass .The mixture of carbon separates the GFO enough so it doesn't solidify.
