Quick GFO Question

[brizhound]

I am at the point that I need to get GFO online. I have used GFO with no ill effects but since this is my baby and I have higher end SPS I want to just get reassurance of my theory. I've read horror stories about using too much too quickly and killing things.
My question is do you think this is safe start.

I am going to use BRS GFO. According to the directions I am to use 1 tbsp. per 4 gallons of aquarium water. I am safely assuming that I have 275 gallons of water in the tank and sump. That gives me 68.75 tbsp. There are 16 tbsp. in a cup (per the instructions on the GFO) so roughly 4 cups will be needed. I am planning on using 2 cups and see what happens.

Does my math make sense and do you think this is a good starting point or should I start with one cup and increase it?

Thanks in advance

 

[Reefomeez]

The math makes sense.

But I would start with one cup. I started my tank with half dosage and quickly sucked all the nutrients out of the water. Luckily six2seven noticed my coral looked on it's way to bleaching and some overfeeding fixed the issue. Whatever you do, test constantly the first few weeks. If you get to 0.00 feed heavier. If you're above 0.10 then maybe add some more. Hope that helps.

 

[brizhound]

thanks Omar I knew that I could count on you I'll start with one cup then. Also I'll hit you up via pm I've had a couple of weird things happen with my apex.

 

[Reefomeez]

thanks Omar I knew that I could count on you I'll start with one cup then. Also I'll hit you up via pm I've had a couple of weird things happen with my apex.

Be happy to help. See what other have done too...assuming more will chime in. I had half the water volume you have and also I started with RowaPhos so the media might work a little bit different. Hopefully someone using BRS will chime in.

Be happy to help with the apex if I can. As you know, my power is limited, lol.

 

[biologicalme]

:/ I never measured lol and nothing died. I have mostly softies but still...I heard of this happening so I cut my dose to half plus I have chaeto in the refugium so I dont really have to add that much to eliminate my phosphates. Is it really that bad to always have them at 0? I feed every day so I guess that balances out.

 

[BeanMachine]

:/ I never measured lol and nothing died. I have mostly softies but still...I heard of this happening so I cut my dose to half plus I have chaeto in the refugium so I dont really have to add that much to eliminate my phosphates. Is it really that bad to always have them at 0? I feed every day so I guess that balances out.

A little phosphate is good for corals. Like in the .03 to .06 range approximately, I think when its over 1 when you start seeing the majority of issues.

 

[watchguy123]

The majority of us learn from each other. It can be hard though to differentiate facts from fiction, not quite enough science in our hobby. As I understand gfo, it removes inorganic phosphates and not " all nutrients". Coral apparently do not like dramatic changes in their environment and apparently removing inorganic phosphates too quickly or nearly eliminating measurable amounts makes coral unhappy. I do not understand much more about the process than that. Bio pellets on the other hand eliminate nitrates and phosphates by increasing bacteria that ultimately consume nitrates and phosphates at some ratio that favores nitrate consumption. Either way , you want some nitrates and phosphates. Goldilocks rule: not too much, not too little, just the right amount of each

 

[Clifford]

Why would you use BRS GFO? That stuff "Blank". I can think of a couple different cheap brands that work better.

 

[Vnghost]

Why would you use BRS GFO? That stuff "Blank". I can think of a couple different cheap brands that work better.

What do you recommend?

 

[wickedfish]

I've tried ecophos, ultra max, rowaphos, and lastly brs. My tank and inhabitants seem to do better with rowaphos. It lasts longer and IMO isn't as dirty as BRS.

Wait till the large one is on sale and it's about the same price as the others when you compare how much phosphate it actually holds compared to the other brands. I feel our sized tank with twenty fish feeding twice a day 3 cups of rowaphos lasts 3.5 weeks without having measurable phosphates on the large Hanna checker through the outlet of your reactor. Other brands, 2 weeks max.

 

[Clifford]

This is one ^^^^^^^^^. I also like the phophate out by Aquamaxx.

 

[Six2seven]

Be very careful with the GFO, Ive seen tanks including my own Fish only tank, where too much was used and caused an uncontrollable dino bloom.

 

[GGuy]

This is one ^^^^^^^^^. I also like the phophate out by Aquamaxx.

I use the Aquamaxx and it works great. Like others have said you should slowly increase to the maximum amount, I started out with about 3/4 the recommended weight. Make sure you weigh it out, the one time I eyeballed it I overdid it and it shocked a few of my sps. This is especially important if you have clams as well, they are known to be sensitive to GFO. It's usually the SPS that you will notice a difference in if you start too aggressive, all of my other corals didn't seem to blink. Also make sure you change it out regularly, I do about once a month. If you wait to long to change it, and then put in the same amount of fresh GFO, you could shock the system the same way as using too much.

 

[brizhound]

Thanks everyone for the input. OK I got the gfo online. It was dirty it took about 4 gallons of water to clear up. I bought this a while ago so I'll use it because I already have it. I went with two cups and will test daily to see what happens. What's a safe ppm drop per day? So far it went from .10 to .07 in 24 hrs.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Mr. Plant]

If you use BRS GFO, buy the more expensive one, better and you use a lot less of it.....

 

[brizhound]

If you use BRS GFO, buy the more expensive one, better and you use a lot less of it.....

I did get the expensive one.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Mr. Plant]

I did get the expensive one.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

How big is your sump ?
You may not have that much total gallons... You actually may have about 170 in your D.T.

 

[brizhound]

How big is your sump ?
You may not have that much total gallons... You actually may have about 170 in your D.T.

My sump is a custom 98 gallon running about 80 - 85 gallons
My DT is running at max about 1/2 inch from the bracing. I have about 125lbs of rock in the DT.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Clifford]

Your tank is the bomb!

 

[Logan killer]

Be very careful with the GFO, Ive seen tanks including my own Fish only tank, where too much was used and caused an uncontrollable dino bloom.

How come it feed Dino? I thought it'll lower your nit and pho so no alage.......