Is GFO safe in Nano Tanks

[Paulip]

I am cycling a new tank with liverock. As a matter of experimentation (and the fact that my RODI isn't setup) I decided to use GFO on Chicago tap water.

The BRS calculator suggested 3 TBS for 12 gallons, effective gallons after rock and sand which I placed in a media bag at the top of my media basket. I have filter sponges in the lower chambers to catch fine GFO sediment. I am shocked that the phosphates went down from .50ppm to 0ppm in one day. (API test)

The water is obviously getting stripped of other nutrients. It doesn't seem to be a safe dosage. How much do you guys use if any?

 

[bryman]

IME, always start at 50% or less of the recommended dosage.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[beetlenut33]

It is safe, people use it in their tanks all the time. I think you should lower your dosage to 1-2 tbsp of GFO.

I just started using Bulk Reef Supply carbon and GFO yesterday. I mixed 3 tbsp of carbon with 2 tbsp of GFO and placed them in a filter sock. I put the sock in the left chamber of my intake of my 16 gallon nano tank. Since carbon should be changed every 2-4 weeks, ,I might lower my GFO dosage to 1 tbsp so that I don't waste so much every 2-4 weeks when it is changed out. So eventually I will use 1 tbsp of GFO and 3 tbsp of carbon and change it out every 2 to 4 weeks.

You should change out your GFO when you start to see your phosphates creep back up.

 

[troublemaker]

This isn't the answer your looking for, but I have no idea how much GFO to use on any of the nanos I have had because they are so cheap and easy to maintain with water changes.

I understand your experiment though, you NEED to keep tryings things in this hobby. I would start low, test, add, test, add test and so on. Phosphates have always been so hard to test, so I just at the tank and know when they are creeping up.

 

[Paulip]

Thanks for the replies. I decided to go with the GFO. I am not concerned anymore about the water getting stripped. My tank is new and the rocks are green, so there are (undetectable) phosphates in the system. Additionally, it seems that the best foods are loaded with phosphates.

Additionally, I dose nitrates which is consumed daily just to maintain color in my purple hammer. There's growth with my frogspawn and orange ricordia, so I guess the water is dirty enough.

 

[Illinijoe]

I'm using 1 TBSP of Phosnet in a reactor in my BC29. I'll see how it goes.

 

[LivingCorals]

I had a mini reactor with Gfo running when I had an SPS setup in my 28 nano. Worked great. In the stand with sump.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ninjamyst]

there are other things in chicago tap water that GFO will not remove. for nano tank, you can just buy RODI from a LFS