battling leaching Po4 with gfo.

[reeferkeeper420]

0.14. My phos os outta control...that or my hanna is outta control..il do a test now and get back to u

 

[reeferkeeper420]

I just only have 3 regaents left so.im using sparingly. Cant do double tests.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Still 0.07...quick question how quick would the gfo strip the phos out of the water? Is one day too quick to remove 0.14 out of the water..i did double test tho and both readings were 0.00 that day...so confused. Lol

 

[unibob]

Yes going from 0.14 to 0.07 seems a bit much for a day, then to go up 0.07 the next...


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[Poseidon]

Your tank actually looked pretty good the other day Riley,
I'm not sure I would trust the test results in your case,
If your po4 was fluctuating as much as your test results claim I think you'd be seeing a lot more damage to your sps.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Not even, went all the way down to 0.00 then back up to 0.07.  So started new gfo tuesday tested thursday was at 0.00, so had two days, and yesterdayband today back to 0.07. Should i change out the gfo, or wait another day, just wondering cuz ill be doing a water change todaybso its a little easier to do it when im already screwing around witht the tank.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Yeah all the sps are full of colour and growing. Just no polyp extension in any of my acros. Only the digis. And i dunno lol should i just stick to changing it out weekly and not even bother testing? Cause theres definately gott be leaching going on afyer all the crap water ive been putting in and heavier bioload.

 

[Poseidon]

this is crazy....
im going to start doing this too, rather than spending an arm and a leg on BRS gfo

 

[Salty Cracker]

Change the battery in the hanna.  When I get readings that don't make sense I usually swap out for a fresh battery.

GFO works.  I had phosphates of .78 and a dead tank, literally.  I brought it back to 0.03 PPB with aggressive, long term GFO and proper water changes.  Good ole Darren (memba him?) said "ooohhh man, you'll be leaching phosphates for 10 years, you had best buy all new everything from me!!!". (gotta love the little scamp).  It did take ~4-5 months to get it down to a ~0.00 PPM, but the tank obviously recovered.  I don't think anyone can argue that I'm having 'success' with SPS and all I use is GFO and bio pellets.

I can't imagine changing my program for a "dump it in and catch it in a sock" thing, since you would not be maintaining stable levels, you would be aggressively ripping something out of the system.  It might kill off stubborn algae, but it also might lead to a mega crash.  Just my opinion, and of course there will always be the "next big thing", but I don't think a dump-and-remove solution is it....

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Yeah GFO is crazy expensive especially when ur changing it out weekly. Unfortunately i dont have a sump so i can catch the precipitate.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Yeahbi dont really like the solutions idea either...gfo seems alot more safe, and has been used for years now woth success. And yeah i cannot argue about you having a gorgeous tank with outstanding SPS growth. Jelous.. lol i like that the phos is binded to the gfo and removed that way and not falling to the bottom of our tanks abd potentially causing bigger problems...i dunno im still a newbie so i cant reallt argue to much when it comes to this.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

And ill definately change out the battery.

 

[Pistol]

Change the battery in the hanna.  When I get readings that don't make sense I usually swap out for a fresh battery.

GFO works.  I had phosphates of .78 and a dead tank, literally.  I brought it back to 0.03 PPB with aggressive, long term GFO and proper water changes.  Good ole Darren (memba him?) said \"ooohhh man, you'll be leaching phosphates for 10 years, you had best buy all new everything from me!!!\". (gotta love the little scamp).  It did take ~4-5 months to get it down to a ~0.00 PPM, but the tank obviously recovered.  I don't think anyone can argue that I'm having 'success' with SPS and all I use is GFO and bio pellets.

I can't imagine changing my program for a \"dump it in and catch it in a sock\" thing, since you would not be maintaining stable levels, you would be aggressively ripping something out of the system.  It might kill off stubborn algae, but it also might lead to a mega crash.  Just my opinion, and of course there will always be the \"next big thing\", but I don't think a dump-and-remove solution is it....

What "dump it in and catch it in a sock" thing are you talking about, it's not dumped in, it's measured, metered and dripped in and the precipitate is caught in a sock. I haven't done it yet but I am hoping that the precipitate is visible cause I'm tired of not having a clue if anything is happening or not. People have been using it for years successfully. The hanna checker is crap, it's not reliable and unfortunately none of the po4 test kits are.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Yeah GFO is crazy expensive especially when ur changing it out weekly. Unfortunately i dont have a sump so i can catch the precipitate.

My rubbermaid tote that I was storing my makeup water ended up being a big contributor to my struggles.  (GFO shouldn't be changed weekly).  I went and bought a ton of reagents for the hanna, and tested EVERYTHING in the house, the tap water, the RO/DO water, the water in salt buckets, the tank, and lo and behold the rubbermaid tote had a phosphate level of 1.5PPM  (!!!!!).  I'm not saying that's your problem, but while my levels DID come back up if I stopped the GFO reactor, the media still worked at keeping it showing 0.00 for quite a long time (3-4 weeks).  When I finally turned off the reactor for a week and levels didn't shoot back up I knew I had it in check.  All is patience.  I honestly spent 15 years trying 'quick fixes' to stop 'old tank syndrome' and I can say 100% that GFO was the only thing that worked long term. 

 

[Salty Cracker]

[quote author=Salty Cracker link=topic=8158.msg86791#msg86791 date=1395503666]
Change the battery in the hanna.  When I get readings that don't make sense I usually swap out for a fresh battery.

GFO works.  I had phosphates of .78 and a dead tank, literally.  I brought it back to 0.03 PPB with aggressive, long term GFO and proper water changes.  Good ole Darren (memba him?) said \"ooohhh man, you'll be leaching phosphates for 10 years, you had best buy all new everything from me!!!\". (gotta love the little scamp).  It did take ~4-5 months to get it down to a ~0.00 PPM, but the tank obviously recovered.  I don't think anyone can argue that I'm having 'success' with SPS and all I use is GFO and bio pellets.

I can't imagine changing my program for a \"dump it in and catch it in a sock\" thing, since you would not be maintaining stable levels, you would be aggressively ripping something out of the system.  It might kill off stubborn algae, but it also might lead to a mega crash.  Just my opinion, and of course there will always be the \"next big thing\", but I don't think a dump-and-remove solution is it....

What "dump it in and catch it in a sock" thing are you talking about, it's not dumped in, it's measured, metered and dripped in and the precipitate is caught in a sock. I haven't done it yet but I am hoping that the precipitate is visible cause I'm tired of not having a clue if anything is happening or not. People have been using it for years successfully. The hanna checker is crap, it's not reliable and unfortunately none of the po4 test kits are.
[/quote]

Go for it.  As I said, this is JUST MY OPINION.  I wouldn't use the precipitate stuff, I hope people have very good luck with it. 

Again, the opinion on hanna checkers varies.  I think the calcium ones are sketchy, but I have no issues with the phosphate or phosphorous except that I have to run 3 tests at a time to be sure of the results.  "the hanna checker is crap" again, is just your opinion.  One shared (and argued) by others. 

 

[reeferkeeper420]

So maybe my mix container could contributig to my phosphates aswell? Theyre just storage bins? Not food safe...ooooo that could def be an issue id think?

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Where would be the best place to get containers that are safe for mixing saltwater and maybe one for ny ATO...that or i might stick my little 3gall acrylic halfmoon tank and use that..

 

[pulpfiction1]

i got my 30g barrel from gary at sealife

 

[Jewel]

Your tank didn't look bad at all when I was there, I didn't notice any HA, You say you don't have Polyp extension on your Acros. It may not be Phosphate, It may just be that your tank isn't stable. I think people test way too much. I look at my tank and see how it appears, No Algae, then No problem, Corals opening up then No problems.. And .07 isn't bad at all.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Well i thoight anythingover .05 problems start.