recent 2 month GFO reactor in session...........not without receding tho....

secretreefer · Nov 17, 2011

Hey guys,
Just letting you know my experience with GFO so far. i bought a 2 chamber BRS reactor and used the recommended amount of carbon and a little less than half the recommended amount of GFO they advised on the calculator. I rinsed as advised until both carbon and GFO had no traces of dust before adding to the reactor. after 2 months and changing it once (soon need to be changed) i've notices some adverse effects. all my acans seems like the polyps are "reducing" like it's shrinking in on itself and the tissue between the polyps are dying. :cry::cry: i've never had this happen, i've had my acans for over a year and it's only started happening since i began using GFO. Also some of my sps that has encrusted on the live rock has started receding slowly inward towards the branch. i turned off my reactor yesterday because it's such a drastic change from seeing my fat extended acans so i'll let you know if they all make a comeback.

secretreefer · Nov 17, 2011

And Nothing against BRS this thing works as it should. just questioning the GFO and sps receding and acan shrinking....

Reefltx · Nov 17, 2011

secretreefer said:
And Nothing against BRS this thing works as it should. just questioning the GFO and sps receding and acan shrinking....

There seems to be a lot of us that have problems with GFO. I notice my SPS will start to get "STN" with a change of gfo. I ran it in a reactor for 4 months before putting the two together and lost a few good pieces. Now, I have stop the reactor and run GFO in a bag along with my carbon in the sump. Thus far, it has kept my p04 under .04ppm..

aquabull · Nov 17, 2011

Reefltx said:
There seems to be a lot of us that have problems with GFO. I notice my SPS will start to get "STN" with a change of gfo. I ran it in a reactor for 4 months before putting the two together and lost a few good pieces. Now, I have stop the reactor and run GFO in a bag along with my carbon in the sump. Thus far, it has kept my p04 under .04ppm..

So, a more passive approach?

secretreefer · Nov 17, 2011

anyone have less collateral damage? and with what kind? I have a container Rowaphos i wanna try out.

five O · Nov 18, 2011

I had the exact same issue, I stopped running GFO. My tank is slowly recooperating from the ill effects of the GFO. NEVER AGAIN!

secretreefer · Nov 18, 2011

thanks 5-O. i'm gonna try rowaphos with my carbon.

bct15 · Nov 18, 2011

I don't have the same issues with my gfo, it has worked well for me...which gfo are you using? I use the brs gfo, just the basic stuff. I don't have any acans though but I have plenty of sps.

secretreefer · Nov 18, 2011

hey B, yeah i've been using the BRS
GFO High Capacity Ferric Oxide

the weird thing is that the only sps that's receding are the small frags that are juuuust basing/anchoring onto the live rock. my large colonies seem to be fine. i have a couple really nice high end sps basing plus my 500 dollar efflo just making a major comeback and didn't want to chance almost losing that again. chalices are fine, LPS besides the acans are fine. zoas are awesome as usual. IDK...

Madreef · Nov 18, 2011

I wonder if it has more to do with your carbon usage than the GFO. Have you ever tested your PO4 with a Hannah full version checker? What was the result?

How much carbon and GFO are you using and how many gallons of water do you have? Are you using carbon dosing for nutrient reduction?

Also what's your strontium and iodine levels?

secretreefer · Nov 18, 2011

good point Madreef, i'll do testing this weekend to see the results. hmmm. never thought about the issue being with the carbon.

Madreef · Nov 18, 2011

I believe carbon can be easily over used in a media reactor. I have for years now used it just passively in a mesh bag in my sump or on a trickle tray. It requires much less flow than GFO to be utilized. You might be removing too much too quickly with it, and your corals are unhappy.

It could also be that you've gone from a low PO4 level to a nonexistent amount and IME most corals don't like an absolute zero when it comes to most things.

Working on a tank based on how the corals look is only so effective. It can take time to track down a problem, the most important thing to remember is do not change your routine too much too quickly. Corals are very adaptive and they don't like change.

AZDesertRat · Nov 18, 2011

BRS doesn't have a clue with GFO and recommends at least twice as much media as any other vendor. That means you should start out with 1/4 their suggested amount then slowly work up to 1/2 their amount over a couple month period. I don't know wht=y the seem to think you need so much othe rthan they make $$ on selling it and would love to hear their response. Full dosage is 10 grams per 10 gallons or about 1 level tablespoon full from every other knowledgable vendor and they say twice that which is DOCUMENTED to cause bleaching.

I love their calcium and alkalinity supplements but they need to be challenged on their GFO recommendations.

Reefltx · Nov 19, 2011

Are you running GAC and is it ROX?

secretreefer · Nov 19, 2011

AZ- wow. ok now that could definitely be the problem.
reefltx- ROX

Coral Pimp · Nov 19, 2011

I started using GFO a month ago and noticed all my sps growing faster!

RRaider · Nov 19, 2011

Coral Pimp said:
I started using GFO a month ago and noticed all my sps growing faster!

High phosphates will prohibit calcification, that's why your coral are growing faster. I run quite a bit of GFO and don't have any adverse effects, but I feed a lot.

secretreefer · Nov 19, 2011

i also feed daily and i have about 10+ fish in my system right now. well i guess i gotta get rid of all my acans! but also i just noticed my large red chalice colony is starting to "white out" in the middle area. it had a small spot but now it's getting really big where i'm seriously thinking to frag this thing.

secretreefer · Dec 15, 2011

OK UPDATE: I gave it another shot. Put new BRS carbon and GFO about 3 weeks ago. used 2/5 recommended by BRS. a week ago Half of my widowmaker mother colony receded skeleton, 4 other chalices receded skeleton. 1 Golden teardrop maxima dead, 1 UNBADONKABELIEVABLE Trachy dead, my other UNBADONKABELIEVABLE trachy half dead, couple branches of a sps colony peeled off, by huge kentukyee bluegrass stag polyps bleached and receded but the base color is still a nice blue without any rtn, but the the rest of my sps are doing AWESOME color and growth!?!... so 2 days ago i pulled off the reactor, gave whatever LPS pieces that aren't doing good away to be babysat to my other friends. flow in the reactor was a slow tumble as recommended by everyone. I did a 20 gallon water change tuesday night and plan another WC tonight 25G. I would like to remind everyone right before i put the reactor on my LPS and SPS had no issues. my LPS were actually going off (chalices were coloring up unreal and fat/happy). I'll be bagging the carbon and putting it in the sump (i think too much flow in the reactor) and trying rowaphos in the reactor....