Just added granular ferric oxide without rinsing it - tank is yellow.

Savas · 10/25/2007, 07:04 AM

Last night, I received my order of Phos-Pure from DFS. I put two tablespoons into the bag that was included and placed the bag near my pump inlet. I did not rinse the phos-pure first. In under a minute, my tank was yellow. The tank cleared up overnight, but did I do any damage to the tank/water?

And, is granular ferric oxide nothing more than rust and withou getting into a big chemical discussion, how does that bind to phosphate to remove it; and would a piece of rusty metal due the same thing or would the unrusted metal leach bad things into the tank.

And lastly, is all granular ferric oxide the same?

mbbuna · 10/28/2007, 06:20 AM

i dont think you did any harm to the tank by not rinsing it but i wouldn't add it again with out rinsing it.

this article explains what GFO's are and how they work

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php

i wouldn't use regular rust in place of GFO

Savas · 10/29/2007, 07:22 AM

Thank you for the link. Great article.

10/25/2007, 07:04 AM	#1
Savas Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Maryland / St. Thomas once a month Posts: 764	Just added granular ferric oxide without rinsing it - tank is yellow. Last night, I received my order of Phos-Pure from DFS. I put two tablespoons into the bag that was included and placed the bag near my pump inlet. I did not rinse the phos-pure first. In under a minute, my tank was yellow. The tank cleared up overnight, but did I do any damage to the tank/water? And, is granular ferric oxide nothing more than rust and withou getting into a big chemical discussion, how does that bind to phosphate to remove it; and would a piece of rusty metal due the same thing or would the unrusted metal leach bad things into the tank. And lastly, is all granular ferric oxide the same? __________________ If you can get your wife hooked into reef keeping, you can spend all the money you want! Current Tank Info: 24 gallon Aquapod Nanotuners 4.32 T-5 lighting upgrade; 24 gallon Aquapod with stock power compacts and actinic lighting; 12 gallon Aquapod with stock power compacts and actinic lighting.

10/29/2007, 07:22 AM	#3
Savas Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Maryland / St. Thomas once a month Posts: 764	Thank you for the link. Great article. __________________ If you can get your wife hooked into reef keeping, you can spend all the money you want! Current Tank Info: 24 gallon Aquapod Nanotuners 4.32 T-5 lighting upgrade; 24 gallon Aquapod with stock power compacts and actinic lighting; 12 gallon Aquapod with stock power compacts and actinic lighting.

10/28/2007, 06:20 AM	#2
mbbuna Moved On Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 6,847	i dont think you did any harm to the tank by not rinsing it but i wouldn't add it again with out rinsing it. this article explains what GFO's are and how they work http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php i wouldn't use regular rust in place of GFO