Skimmate color is weird...

[Kurant]

Soo, I have to admit I've been out of the hobby for a bit.. 

Buuuut, I was in it long enough to know I've never seen an orange-brownish skimmate before. Am I over thinking this? Or? 

Little background, it is a new tank, swapped from a 13.5 Fluval to IM 25 lagoon. New lights. New rocks.. 2 clowns, gramma and I inherited a flameback angel from a broken tank for the time being. I do run GFO, that I rinsed in the Minimaxx reactor with RO water. It just barely tumbles on the top of the media in the reactor.. 

Not sure, but the stuff stinks I know that.. Lol. 

 

[Tired]

IIRC, that can happen when you have a lot of organic matter being removed. When and where did you get the rock, and what was it like when you did? 

[mcarroll]

GFO should not be tumbling unless you want GFO-powder in the water (which you don't).....might be what the skimmer is grabbing.

[Kurant]

6 hours ago, mcarroll said:

GFO should not be tumbling unless you want GFO-powder in the water (which you don't).....might be what the skimmer is grabbing.

BRS's website for their own product says it should barely tumble on the surface. I've never seen anyone say it should not tumble in a reactor.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/instructions/article/Granular-Ferric-Oxide-GFO-Instructions

 

[Kurant]

10 hours ago, Tired said:

IIRC, that can happen when you have a lot of organic matter being removed. When and where did you get the rock, and what was it like when you did? 

The rock is Walt Smith Reef Rock 2.1. 

[mcarroll]

4 hours ago, Kurant said:

BRS's website for their own product says it should barely tumble on the surface. I've never seen anyone say it should not tumble in a reactor.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/instructions/article/Granular-Ferric-Oxide-GFO-Instructions

 

The only media you specifically want to tumble is bio-pellets because abrading off the outside layer is part of the object.

 

But let's go with your chosen authority...

 

Instruction #5 at that link says (for media reactors) "barely tumble" as a visual indicator for flow rate.  It's not a recommendation on how to treat the media.  And still they say "barely".  As in "barely noticeable".  The difference between that and not-tumbling isn't gong to affect performance.  

 

Instruction #6 is about not letting it tumble.  They are clear about this.

 

The object with all non-bio-pellet media is for the media NOT to abrade.  Practically speaking, that means not tumbling.

 

So use BRS's advice to set your flow...then back it down just a hair more.  No problem.

 

I think this is the most likely explanation for your skimmate if your GFO is tumbling noticeably.  

 

Plus, I can't really think of anything else that would tint your skimmate the color that it is ("orangish brown") and you don't mention that anything is going on with the tank otherwise that would give a clue as to there being another explanation.   Are your corals doing well?  (Are there corals?)  How are your test results?  (How were tests on the old tank?)

[Kurant]

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

The only media you specifically want to tumble is bio-pellets because abrading off the outside layer is part of the object.

 

But let's go with your chosen authority...

 

Instruction #5 at that link says (for media reactors) "barely tumble" as a visual indicator for flow rate.  It's not a recommendation on how to treat the media.  And still they say "barely".  As in "barely noticeable".  The difference between that and not-tumbling isn't gong to affect performance.  

 

Instruction #6 is about not letting it tumble.  They are clear about this.

 

The object with all non-bio-pellet media is for the media NOT to abrade.  Practically speaking, that means not tumbling.

 

So use BRS's advice to set your flow...then back it down just a hair more.  No problem.

 

I think this is the most likely explanation for your skimmate if your GFO is tumbling noticeably.  

 

Plus, I can't really think of anything else that would tint your skimmate the color that it is ("orangish brown") and you don't mention that anything is going on with the tank otherwise that would give a clue as to there being another explanation.   Are your corals doing well?  (Are there corals?)  How are your test results?  (How were tests on the old tank?)

I don't disagree the GFO is causing the coloration. 

The problem is, and I know this from experience, if it is not fluid at all, it WILL mass. That's what I'm trying to avoid. Perhaps this isn't the right reactor to run GFO in, it doesn't seem to have an adjustment that small in it. There is no ball valve or anything, just a simple slider on the pump, and an adjustment of turning the internal cylinder for flow rate, and it's difficult to dial in. Perhaps bio-pellets or carbon is a better application. It's now as low as I can possibly get it with some fluidity in it. Might just bail on it entirely for chaeto. 

Nothing else is going on with the tank, matter of fact I'm extremely happy with it. Only a few corals at this point, frogspawn, duncan's and zooa's. The Frogspawn is bigger than it's ever been, it's fantastic. 

Once I got Dr. Tim's in and past the initial ammonia spike after moving everything (The fish were in already.) and I saw nitrates, I moved the corals out of the other tank into the new.  Nitrates are still between 5-10 on Red Sea test. .008 phosphate (Hanna LR). No ammonia or nitrite. I haven't tested much else since moving it. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

You don’t want the gfo to tumble a lot, but when in a reactor you just want it move a little to keep it from clumping up but not grind itself into powder. 
 

It looks like your skimmate is running really wet though. Im not a fan of wet skimmate.  
 

 

[Kurant]

6 hours ago, Thrassian Atoll said:

You don’t want the gfo to tumble a lot, but when in a reactor you just want it move a little to keep it from clumping up but not grind itself into powder. 
 

It looks like your skimmate is running really wet though. Im not a fan of wet skimmate.  
 

 

It is skimming wet. It's brand new, still trying to get it dialed in.

Don't particularly like the skimmer, either. Although in the last couple of days it's settled in a bit, and it seems the adjustments are much easier. Guess we'll see.

 

[mcarroll]

10 hours ago, Kurant said:

The problem is, and I know this from experience, if it is not fluid at all, it WILL mass. That's what I'm trying to avoid. Perhaps this isn't the right reactor to run GFO in, it doesn't seem to have an adjustment that small in it. There is no ball valve or anything, just a simple slider on the pump, and an adjustment of turning the internal cylinder for flow rate, and it's difficult to dial in. Perhaps bio-pellets or carbon is a better application. It's now as low as I can possibly get it with some fluidity in it. Might just bail on it entirely for chaeto. 

Most people, most tanks really don't seem to need either one....I'd remove all of the extras (eg chaeto, GFO, et al) and add back only what you find to be necessary.

 

Live rock and a protein skimmer is really all it takes in most cases.  So just focus your attention and efforts on those two items.  👍

[Kurant]

6 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Most people, most tanks really don't seem to need either one....I'd remove all of the extras (eg chaeto, GFO, et al) and add back only what you find to be necessary.

 

Live rock and a protein skimmer is really all it takes in most cases.  So just focus your attention and efforts on those two items.  👍

So, you were correct. 

I bought the MightyJet 538GPH pump, went to replace the OEM 326GPH pump today, pulled the pump out, ALL the white plastic inside the pump is coated in orange. Removed all media and put filter socks in with polishing pads in them for the remainder of the day. We'll see how bad it actually is. 

Removed the reactor. Think I'll leave that one in my storage container.. 
 

[mcarroll]

If it's needed it'll be there – like an umbrella, or an insurance policy.  😉