shutting down GFO reactor

cheseenlo · May 16, 2017

I've been in the hobby for 3-4 years now and ive always had a GFO reactor. i've never had any algae in my tanks . but I've always never had corals color up like i see in pictures. i heard horror stories of people shutting down Biopellets reactors. is it safe just to stop using GFO cold turkey ? or should it be a gradual thing ? anyone have any experience ? wanted to try not using GFO and seeing if my SPS would color on up.

thanks for all the help !

thaitopher · May 16, 2017

Just curious, why are you shutting it down?

thaitopher · May 16, 2017

Are you certain that your corals not coloring up might be due to some other reason like lighting or maybe you aren't feeding them?

Mr.Rocc · May 16, 2017

Stopping anything cold turkey will have a negative effect of something in your tank. I use the word something because you cannot tell exactly what it will effect. Anyhow, it also might create a algae bloom as well. I would slowly take it down and see what happens.

joseserrano · May 16, 2017

you may not need to run GFO, your system maybe able to consume what is produced, but I would gradually come off it, just in case.

morpheas · May 16, 2017

What is your phosphate like? Do you measure it? If it's 0 then coloration and coral growth retardation can definitely be attributed to phosphate starvation. If you don't have a number then before you do anything measure.

How much GFO do you have running and how big is your tank?
Reason I'm asking is this. If it's manageable and possible, I make the reactor carbon mainly and mix in some GFO. Assuming you do have a number, start with it as you baseline and measure after a week (or if you have Hanna checkers do daily/every other day). If phosphates don't perk up to your satisfaction, you can put the reactor on a timer (since the GFO is mixed with carbon clamping will be minimal). Then, measure again and so on until you develop a feel of how the numbers play. You might end up shutting down completely, or you might find out you need much less, or for less time, or every other week etc. These things I have found rely heavily on each system and the reefer has to develop a good feel of his system's input and output.

That's what I would do anyway...

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 16, 2017

It is perfectly fine to instantly stop a GFO reactor and take it offline. The only appreciable risk is rising phosphate, which is presumably the goal anyway.

Do not just restart one that has been sitting idle because the water in it will become stagnant and potentially toxic.

cheseenlo · May 16, 2017

testing with salifert once a month I'm at a consistent 0.
tank size is 55 gallons with 20 gallon sump
i also run a Refugium with Cheato 12 hours reverse cycle.
after seeing BRS video on cheato, i feel that maybe i can come off of GFO and just have Cheato do all the work yet still leaving enough phosphate for my corals to consume. That video is my motivation behind this and hopefully my corals will color up a little bit in the process as well. although i do dose Aqua vitro fuel amino acids 5ml every day, i wonder should i cut down dosing that or does that not matter in the scheme of things ?

morpheas · May 16, 2017

What's your nitrate like? That will help answer the amino question. Also, if you're that low, I would invest in a Hanna ULR Phosphorus checker. That thing has saved me from trying to decipher the ridiculous color changes for very low ranges and it gives nice consistent results.

cheseenlo · May 22, 2017

i have turned off my GFO reactor, cold turkey since Thurs.
i've tested every day since with Salifert Phos. test, and it has gone from 0 to less .03 (maybe) its a very faint blue last night.
i think i will try to keep the Phos to .03 - .08 like WWC keeps their tanks.

thank you everyone for your input !
whats everyone take on the hanna ULR phos checker ? is it worth the money ?

Anirban · May 22, 2017

cheseenlo said:
i have turned off my GFO reactor, cold turkey since Thurs.
i've tested every day since with Salifert Phos. test, and it has gone from 0 to less .03 (maybe) its a very faint blue last night.
i think i will try to keep the Phos to .03 - .08 like WWC keeps their tanks.

thank you everyone for your input !
whats everyone take on the hanna ULR phos checker ? is it worth the money ?

Hanna ULR is great and totally worth money..