LebaneseDlight Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I used half the recommended amount (BRS bulk GFO, says 1 tablespoon per 4 gal) recently in my reactor. My Phosphates were at 0.08 and after 3 days, I retested and it's at 0. I removed the GFO/GAC last night immediately upon seeing the 0 reading and I fed the tank heavily. What promted my to recheck my Phosphates is the diminished PE on my SPS frags. Do you think 3 days with 0 Phos is enough to cause permanent damage? No signs of RTN/STN, but perhaps colors aren't as vibrant. What number should I wait for before trying to run a lesser amount of GFO? I'm thinking 0.04 should be my target to restart it. Link to comment
Bill Nye Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 What are you using for a test kit? My phosphates run between undetectable and .02 all the time and other than my sps being a little light there isnt a huge problem. I'd rather run undetectable and add more fish than at be at .08. When my tank hits .04 I change GFO. Link to comment
LebaneseDlight Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 I'm using a hanna phosphate meter. I have a red sea one as well, but I have a hard time reading those beige/greenish colors. But the Hanna meter has always given me a detectable reading (0.06-0.1) until I started using this Minimax reactor this week (previously just running media through the baskets). I removed yesterday, fed heavily and tonight phos is still 0. I have nothing but SPS frags. I've had them for over a month, little growth but good color and PE. I'm thinking the high phos affected growth. I just need to get a stable number - looks like .02 is the number to strive for. Link to comment
Bingo1213 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I use gfo and keep mine at zero with no problems at all. My tank is a mixed reef and all my corals and clams do great. It is also vodka dosed so i have literally zero nutrients at all. Now if you run tank that clean you need to feed the corals more but you get great color and incredible growth. It is worth the extra work in my opinion. I feed photo and zoo plankton both twice a week and I also have a dosing pump adding small amounts of sea chem's fuel daily. It is better to replace waste with coral food trust me! Link to comment
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