Back to GFO

Just finished rinsing the GFO i just regenerated and placed it back on the system. Hadent used any in a while since i was trying the bio-pellets but i wasent liking them so out they went. Did a phosphate test with the checker and got .8. Before i started the pellets phosphates had been at .04 for a while so it will be interesting to see how quickly the GFO drops them down. Im running about 450ml of GFO in my new reactor from purelyH20.

Sounds like a step in the right direction. how often are you going to re-check the phosphates?

Im not sure. I thought about checking every day but dont want to burn up all my reagents so maybe once a week or at the most 3 days

And the day after a w/c... if your into that sorta thing it would be nice to have a good log of how much it does, especially since its regenerated. Any ideas on your "phosphate culprit" ? or just building over time?
and so i dont have to do any math.... is that the "recommended" usage quantity Chris. I forget how much i used, but i followed BRS instructions.

Have you tried phosban? Just wondering if GFO and phosban are comparable to eachother.

I thought it was just a "name brand" gfo.... not 100% sure though

Sounds like positive results so far.

No phosban is an aluminum based media, GFO is iron based. I used GFO originally, then switched to phosban after hearing the iron content can trigger pinched mantle disease in clams. Not sure how true that is, but knowing Chris is a clam guy, it made me think about it again.

Originally Posted by spinycheek

No phosban is an aluminum based media, GFO is iron based. I used GFO originally, then switched to phosban after hearing the iron content can trigger pinched mantle disease in clams. Not sure how true that is, but knowing Chris is a clam guy, it made me think about it again.

Are you sure about your "No" or do you have phosban and phosguard confused?
phosban is a little differently structured than gfo....... but still iron right?

i've used phosban,phosguard, and gfo..

phosban just seems like a "messier" version of gfo.... and phosguard is a completely different animal..... small white pellets (aluminum based)

here's a link to a good article..... Iron Oxide Hydroxide (GFO) Phosphate Binders by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
phosban is packaged as "ferrous oxide hydroxide"
here's the relevant part of that link....


A variety of different materials go by the general description of iron oxide hydroxide. One version is frequently referred to as Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO), and that name will be used throughout this article unless something else specific is intended. Ferric refers to iron in the +3 state, (called iron (III), or Fe+++), which is the most stable state of iron under aerobic conditions. The iron in GFO is ferric. Ferrous refers to iron in the +2 state (called iron (II) or Fe++). It is the more stable salt form of iron under anaerobic conditions. There is no ferrous iron in GFO (except perhaps trace impurities).

Iron hydroxide (Fe(OH)3) is composed of an Fe+++ ion surrounded by three hydroxide (OH-) ions. It is readily formed by combing any soluble form of Fe+++ with hydroxide ions. Adding Fe+++ (as in iron sulfate or chloride) directly to seawater will instantly form largely insoluble Fe(OH)3, which appears as a brown mud. This effect is the primary reason not to use unchelated ferric salts as iron supplements in marine aquaria, but that's a story for a different article.

At the other end of the extreme of iron (III) oxides and hydroxides is the dehydrated form ferric oxide, Fe2O3. It is composed of Fe+++ ions and O-- ions. Solid Fe(OH)3 spontaneously loses water to form a material that is in between these extremes, FeO(OH), which is what is often called iron oxide hydroxide, as shown in equations 1-3.

1. Fe+++ + 3OH- � Fe(OH)3

Ferric iron + hydroxide � iron hydroxide

2. Fe(OH)3 � FeO(OH) + H2O

Iron hydroxide � iron oxide hydroxide plus water

3. 2FeO(OH) � Fe2O3 + H2O

Iron oxide hydroxide � iron oxide plus water

Iron oxide hydroxide can be completely amorphous (having randomly arranged ions), completely crystalline (with an ordered arrangement of ions), or something in between. In nature it can take a variety of different crystalline forms, including goethite, lepidocrocite, and limonite. The detailed chemistry of these materials is beyond the scope of this article, but in short, all of the commercial GFO's sold to aquarists are comprised of a solid of Fe+++ and OH- and O-- ions.

Crap, I was thinking of Phosguard (the white pellets). My bad.

my phosguard runs 24/7 in a tlf reactor, about 1- 2 cups,keeping the pellets barely barely moving. hanna checker reads between .00 and .02 even an hour after feeding. i change about every 5-6 weeks or if it reads above .05, which it did on the old api test kit, but never on the hanna. pulled out a ton of unwanted algae and the checker still was within my accepted range. i swear by those lil white pellets

Originally Posted by Saltcreep

And the day after a w/c... if your into that sorta thing it would be nice to have a good log of how much it does, especially since its regenerated. Any ideas on your "phosphate culprit" ? or just building over time?
and so i dont have to do any math.... is that the "recommended" usage quantity Chris. I forget how much i used, but i followed BRS instructions.

I dont know what the recommended amount per gallon is. The amount you add will only effect how often you need to change it.

Originally Posted by spinycheek

Have you tried phosban? Just wondering if GFO and phosban are comparable to eachother.

I see you meant phosguard. Ive used it in the past. Everything ive read about the two says that GFO has 4x the adsorption capacity as aluminum based phosphate removers, however the aluminum based stuff is about 4x less expensive so IMO if you look at it that way its about a wash.

Im using GFO because I have it. I have about 2lbs of it right now that i saved once i found out it can be regenerated.

Just did another PO4 test and in just under 48 hours since i added the GFO its dropped almost half to .47 Pretty impressive that 450ml of this can do that to about 450 gallons of water.

That's awesome! How hard is it to pull out too much phosphate?

I dont know. I guess if you have a small fish load it would be easier to pull too much out but then again if you any had a few fish you shouldnt need to use anything like this.

8 days with GFO now and im down to .12 Seems to be removing it at a constant rate.

Do you guys run these 24/7 or can you run one only when you have a problem?

Now and when i used it before i ran it 24/7 but there is nothing wrong with using it as needed. If its not exhausted you can rinse it in RO and store either dry or wet and then use it again when needed.

Sounds like it's working for ya!!

congrats

Originally Posted by Variko

Do you guys run these 24/7 or can you run one only when you have a problem?

Just don't keep the reactor filled with water and isolated between uses or you can send of slug of hydrogen sulfide infused anaerobic water into your tank and nuke everything in it.