Emergency help please. Need GFO fast.

fit

fit

Member
I am losing some SPS I think. I think it's because I have high phosphates. My LFS measured phosphates at around 0.35ppm today with their Red Sea test kit. I have been very remiss about that specific parameter. Never looked at it before. I want to add a little bit of GFO immediately to start reducing that concentration.

Therefore, as I have been advised, does anyone have where I can immediately get a little "Premium Aquatics Phos-blast, which is essentially the same thing as ROWAphos, except dirt cheap. Next would be GFH (granular ferric hydroxide) which is BRS High Capacity GFO, or just plain old GFO?"

I just need a little till I can order some via normal channels.

I have almost prepared about 30 gallons to perform a PWC. How big of a PWC can I perform on a 70Ga system? What is the largest PWC that makes sense? I am close to having enough to make a 50% PWC, but I can easily hang on to some of it and do it in a few iterations. I'll make sure to match the water before the PWC. Will the following be acceptable tolerances? SG to within 0.0005kg/l, temp within say 2 degrees, pH within 0.1 units. Do I have to match Alk? Alk right now is 8.5dkH

In addition I am immediately gong to reduce my temp fluctuations to about 3 degrees per day. I was allowing up to 7 degrees per day.
 
ColaAddict

ColaAddict

New member
The temp swing is definitely big and will cause you to loose SPS. water change should help until you can get GFO. if your parameters are pretty much the same with fresh saltwater then you can use all 30, that's almost half your water volum and should reduce your phosphates buy half right away. some people would advice for smaller changes, but if your livestock are dying, I would just make a big water change.
 
jm23

jm23

Active member
+1 to what Nino said. Your temp swings are more likely the cause of the stress on your corals. High phosphates will start to brown out your corals and potentially start to see STN. Forget the emergency GFO and start doing 10% to 25% WC a week for the next several weeks and you should see your phosphate levels start to drop. I wouldn't advocate a 50% change as the sudden drop in phosphates can be just as stressful for the corals (same thing happens when people shock their system with too much GFO or bio-pellets). Do a water change once a week for the next several weeks until your levels are where you want them, but you need to figure out why your levels got so high to begin with (heavy feeding, small skimmer, lack of WC, too little flow, old DSB, etc). GFO is a great tool to add to a system, but start out slow (like 1/4 the amount recommended and work your way up). It will take several weeks for the GFO to show some good results, so WC is your best bet for now. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
Yes imo they r both right ive done 50% wc in emergencies . Temp swing that high is definite no no for sps . Phosphates being checked with anything besides a hanna checker ive been told is waste of time and in acurate. Do the water change keep temp stabile c what happens. My tank runs 100x better without gfo but thats my tank every tank is different i do have a little left brs if u want it just swing by and grab
 
fit

fit

Member
Ok. I have done about 30% total PWC. !7% last night and then another this morning. This morning I stopped the pump, got everything out of my sump (live rock, coral skeletons, and cheato), vacuumed everything out. Then replaced with new mix. About 2 cups of sediment perhaps out of the sump. Water was green/brown dark color.

Is a 3 degree gradual variation temp from 79 to 82 ok? Or do I just absolutely need to get better with this? Smaller fluctuations? High temp too high?

Madjoe. Thank you for the offer of GFO. I do want to take you up on this. PM will be sent.
 
fit

fit

Member
I have a Vertex 100 GPD. 0ppm according to the onboard TDS. I measure about 150ppm coming in with that same meter, and that halves when I dilute with the same amount of RODI, so I think the meter is working. Also, a few months back the meter was reading 2ppm and quickly crept to 4ppm, I changed the resin and the other filter cartridges and it went back down to 0.

I have not been doing PWC, relying on my refugium, and then lately my new ATS. I started my tank on tap water and IO. Never bothered with phosphates till now. Also have no skimmer. I got a lot of catching up to do. I have been using RODI for about a year now.
 
KeishaKornbread

KeishaKornbread

Banned
So it doesn't sound like it's your water. If you want a second opinion, I have a handheld TDS meter I use to check my BRS meter's honesty that you can borrow.

Get a skimmer and it will do a great job getting those phosphates down.
 
fwadiver

fwadiver

New member
3 degrees is still too much, you really need to be holding temp to one degree or less, mine is regulated to half a degree.
 
jm23

jm23

Active member
There have been plenty of successful reef tanks that fluctuate 3 degrees a day. When I was doing my data collection of all the TOTM I noticed that 3 degrees wasn't unusual. I believe though that the more stable you can keep the temp the better, as with every other parameter. 82 degrees is getting on the high side, though some say you will see faster growth at that temp. How are you controlling your temp?

Cleaning the sump is definitely something that is needed every once an awhile to control phosphate and nitrates. I have a powerhead in my sump to prevent detritus from building up. A skimmer while it isn't a must on a reef tank, I don't think you will find many successful reefers without one, but if you don't have a skimmer then you need to be doing consistent WC. Someone linked Reefkeeping Made Easy (reeftank.com thread) in their signature and that is a great read that should help you understand what is going on with your tank a little better.
 
fit

fit

Member
Madjoe. Thanks a ton for your GFO. Your tanks and iguanas are fantastic. Something to aspire to. I just got that GFO running now.

My Merulina seems to be happier for now. The part that was deeper and vertical took the biggest hit, a few parts of that seem to be just skeleton now. The vast majority for now is teetering but still alive and looking a bit better than this morning. The parts that are higher and/or more directly lit were less affected but were on their way to deteriorating and dying following a delayed version of the lower down parts or more shadowed parts. The more illuminated parts seems to be doing a lot better than they were this morning. Not quite back to where it used to be, but much better for now. Certainly much healthier than the less lit parts. The pocillopora is holding I think for now. Or at least the rate of decay from the bottom up seems to be slowing. Perhaps wishful thinking on the pocci.
 
fit

fit

Member
Last night I realized that I have had my two d120's LED panels down very low. I got an eel about 2 weeks ago and I turned the lights lower to help it adjust and forgot about it. The lights looked normal but they were way down.

I turned up the lights this morning, and the living parts of Merulina are looking close to normal.

I do not know for sure that that was it or whether it was the high phosphates or the high temp variations. I feel very foolish that I had my lights low and didn't realise it. I wanted to hide and not tell you guys about it, but that would not be fair. But I am glad I was alerted to the high phosphates because of this. I do not have a good track record with SPS and this is gong to help I am sure.

Anyway, I am very glad that at least that one coral seems to be pulling through, no matter what the cause was.
 
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