phosphate reactor

[jose hernandez]

so i added a brs dual reactor with gfo and carbon to get water clarity and reduce phosphates water is clear but my phosphates do not go down i was currentlly using np bacto balance and it seemed to work but saw myself not being consistent with it phosphates were always up and down so thats when i decided on the reactor my question is the reactor to small for my system or do i just add a pump to dose the np bacto balance my system is a mixed reef total water volume 200 gallons about 12 fish feed 2 mysis frozen cubes a day

 

[blaxsun]

What are your current phosphate levels, how much GFO (mm, etc.) did you add to your dual reactor and how long have you been running it?

 

[jose hernandez]

its been running about a month now added a half a cup brs gfo phosphates 0.30 i was thinking using rowaphos as i hear its much better i see the gfo tumbling but see no results

 

[blaxsun]

its been running about a month now added a half a cup brs gfo phosphates 0.30 i was thinking using rowaphos as i hear its much better

Nyos Phosi-Ex is the best (largest particles, least amount of GFO that leeches out of it). On my 200-gallon system I run 500ml of carbon and 500ml of GFO, so maybe you're just not using enough for your system.

 

[jose hernandez]

what about rowaphos would t it be better being it does not have to tumble?

 

[blaxsun]

what about rowaphos would t it be better being it does not have to tumble?

I personally don't like Rowaphos because the granules are very tiny and it leaves a lot of 'red' crap even after you thoroughly rinse it. But again, it may simply be that you're not using enough GFO (GFO typically needs to be replaced every 30 days as well).

 

[jose hernandez]

since day one it has not done anything i have the regular brs gfo do i need to get the high capacity instead?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I expect you just were not changing the GFO often enough. At 0.3 ppm, and good flow thought it, it might deplete in a day.

 

[jose hernandez]

as of yesterday its been a month

 

[jose hernandez]

saw no change only when i used the np bacto balance

 

[jda]

Dual reactors are not great for GFO since the flow rate for it often needs to be slower than what is in the other side. You do want the GFO to slowly tumble or else the water will find the easiest path and only come into contact with the GFO in that path. A slight tumble will most effectively use the GFO.

When I looked into this a while back, there were only a few places on earth that made GFO. It is all the same except for the regular and high capacity. Rowa and BRS or the generic stuff that you can get on Amazon or eBay are likely all the same thing if you stick with the same regular or high capacity.

I also agree that the media could likely be exhausted in a day, or less. The best way to lower po4 with it is to use a small amount and change it daily. In a 200g tank with .30 water level po4, I would not be shocked if you needed almost 5 gallons of GFO to get down to .05, or so. There is likely a massive amount of po4 in the rocks and sand that needs to unbind.

 

[jose hernandez]

like i mentioned before i saw a difference with np bacto balance but dont wanna buy a pump to dose it everyday

 

[jda]

Nobody will tell you what is in that stuff, but it appears to be both some sort of nitrogen and phosphorous source and also organic carbon. You know that you have enough phosphates, no need to add more. Also, organic carbon dosing is not really all that effective at reducing phosphates - GFO and Lanthanum Chloride are better at this.

 

[jose hernandez]

i see it reduce my phosphates not raise them so im confused lanthanum chloride i heard of but was told it can harm the fish so rather not take the chance with