Is gfo necessary with bio pellets or vodka/vinegar
- Thread starter watchguy123
- Start date
GFO has been around 10-15 years and has been proven to be able to quickly remove PO4 (alk, and other useful anions) by direct chemical reaction, if thats what you want. But its expensive.
If youve dialed in biopellets, GFO still has a role in acutely lowering PO4. IMO, really fast growing reefs with lots of fish are high carbon in, high carbon out systems (just like with water changes and trace elements) and they are all tools to do this.
If youve dialed in biopellets, GFO still has a role in acutely lowering PO4. IMO, really fast growing reefs with lots of fish are high carbon in, high carbon out systems (just like with water changes and trace elements) and they are all tools to do this.
I used bio pellets about three plus years ago and ultimately had a tank crash And like any tank crash, sometimes it's hard to zero in on what happened. In my case, I definitely overreacted to the start of the crash and exacerbated the annihilation of my tank. I don't know whether the bio pellets were a cause of the crash or not.
I don't plan on adding bio pellets to my tank for the time being, I'm still a wee bit leary of them since my tank crash.
I thought that nitrates were consumed more quickly than phosphates with carbon dosing, if my memory serves me correctly, there is some specific ratio of nitrates to phosphates consumption and so I thought that you would end up ultimately with excess phosphates and require gfo.
As much as I think I know or don't know, just trying to understand differing approaches to maintaining a reef tanks parameters. I use Chaeto and water changes and I guess limited feeding ( I think I feed a lot but who really knows what a lot is in terms of feeding) to control nitrates. I run gfo to control phosphate levels. I use Red Sea test for phosphates and I run somewhere between 0 and 0.08 phosphates. I think my phosphates remain reasonably stable but I can't tell the differences in color between 0, 0.04 and 0.08 on the darn Red Sea color chart so that is why I describe the range.
I test alk frequently atleast once per week, nitrates only by LFS infrequently, phosphates monthly and salinity about every two weeks.
Alk is tested so frequently because I think it is super important and I am paranoid about it; I have a reactor on the display and a doser on separate frag tank. I have my nitrates tested infrequently at LFS because it is almost always nearly zero and my Chaeto grows crazy fast. I test phosphates more frequently because if they are low, I assume nitrates are as well but since I run gfo that is an inconsistent conclusion to assume but I do any way ( unfortunately i draw all kinds of inconsistent and irrational conclusions). New conclusion for today, I need to start testing my own nitrates and time to buy a test kit. Salinity almost never varies ( Tunze ATO ) but I would feel really stupid if I let it creep out of range.
We all seem to take different paths to deal with tank parameters. I posed the thread question to see how some of you guys control nitrates and phosphates. Probably should have just asked that: how do you manage your nitrates and phosphates?
I don't plan on adding bio pellets to my tank for the time being, I'm still a wee bit leary of them since my tank crash.
I thought that nitrates were consumed more quickly than phosphates with carbon dosing, if my memory serves me correctly, there is some specific ratio of nitrates to phosphates consumption and so I thought that you would end up ultimately with excess phosphates and require gfo.
As much as I think I know or don't know, just trying to understand differing approaches to maintaining a reef tanks parameters. I use Chaeto and water changes and I guess limited feeding ( I think I feed a lot but who really knows what a lot is in terms of feeding) to control nitrates. I run gfo to control phosphate levels. I use Red Sea test for phosphates and I run somewhere between 0 and 0.08 phosphates. I think my phosphates remain reasonably stable but I can't tell the differences in color between 0, 0.04 and 0.08 on the darn Red Sea color chart so that is why I describe the range.
I test alk frequently atleast once per week, nitrates only by LFS infrequently, phosphates monthly and salinity about every two weeks.
Alk is tested so frequently because I think it is super important and I am paranoid about it; I have a reactor on the display and a doser on separate frag tank. I have my nitrates tested infrequently at LFS because it is almost always nearly zero and my Chaeto grows crazy fast. I test phosphates more frequently because if they are low, I assume nitrates are as well but since I run gfo that is an inconsistent conclusion to assume but I do any way ( unfortunately i draw all kinds of inconsistent and irrational conclusions). New conclusion for today, I need to start testing my own nitrates and time to buy a test kit. Salinity almost never varies ( Tunze ATO ) but I would feel really stupid if I let it creep out of range.
We all seem to take different paths to deal with tank parameters. I posed the thread question to see how some of you guys control nitrates and phosphates. Probably should have just asked that: how do you manage your nitrates and phosphates?
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