Rinsing BRS GFO

[tcwoodrn]

How do you guys rinse off your GFO? I use the BRS stuff and I can never get all the orange junk out before I put it in my reactor. I hate that some of the dust gets into my water. Anyone have a good trick?

[FranktheTankTx]

Hmmm... If I remember correctly, I used a bucket of water change (the old water) & ran my reactor off that water. Just let it run 5g of sw thru the GFO & it's pretty rinsed by then.

[what'scoral]

I wash it with either old saltwater or just tap water (RO/DI is the best but expensive). But anyways I always put it in a reactor which output goes threw a fine micron filter and after a month you will be amazed by the sediment that is released in a month.

[jason2459]

Wouldn't running it through old sw cause it to take up po4 before it's even put into use and reduce it's effective life in production?

I usually just soak it in ro/di water for 5 mins and dump the water out and soak it again for another 5 mins. Maybe a third time if I think it needs it. Takes care of 99% of the initial fines for me.

[t4zalews]

i use the BRS high capacity GFO...I dont rinse at all..I simply put the GFO in my LF canister and hook up to my system. I take like 6 paper towels and layer them and run the outlet through the toweling until the water in the canister is pretty close to clear.

This will remove all the major sediments in the beginning. Takes only a few minutes and I don't have a problem. I wouldnt worry about it too much... I accidently tore my carbon bag when i was placing it in my sump and all the carbon dumped into my sump making the water very dark for a couple hours....nothing bad happened.

[chilwil84]

i just run mine into a bucket (with the pump in my sump) until the water goes clear. usually takes less than a gallon of water.

[Jade]

Originally Posted by chilwil84

i just run mine into a bucket (with the pump in my sump) until the water goes clear. usually takes less than a gallon of water.

Thats exactally how I do mine also.

[FranktheTankTx]

Originally Posted by chilwil84

i just run mine into a bucket (with the pump in my sump) until the water goes clear. usually takes less than a gallon of water.

Essentially what I said.

[drparker]

Originally Posted by chilwil84

i just run mine into a bucket (with the pump in my sump) until the water goes clear. usually takes less than a gallon of water.

+4, I do this as part of my water change and do the same for my carbon reactor as well.

[SkyPapa]

I have used brs regular gfo in a tlf reac. for a while and rinse with rodi till it runs clear.
Even then I would still notice the output hose and carbon bag in the sump with orange (rust) discoloring from the fines after a few days.

I switched to the brs high capacity gfo recently and it takes less rinsing and I don't see any discoloration on the pipe or carbon.
And it doesn't clump as easily either.

[sfboarders]

+5 on what the others said. I just received my dual gfo/carbon reactor this week, filled each canister up, and ran it through a bucket first. Took about 4 gallons for it to clear up.

[Paulairduck]

I like the water change idea, never thought of that.

[d0ughb0y]

read this

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1766644

I particularly like #9.

I have always wondered about using HC GFO now I know its not worth it.

[SkyPapa]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

read this

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1766644

I particularly like #9.

I have always wondered about using HC GFO now I know its not worth it.

And just how did you reach that conclusion based on this post?

Lamarine23 wrote in post #9,

"I think this is the single most important factor to know when purchasing a gfo. As I read it currently the claim is that the High Capacity GFO lasts twice as long but how can you say that without knowing it's absorption abilities?"

Did you read the reply by the sponsor?

[Mastermind]

Off topic, but does anyone else see "GFO" in threads and automatically giggle because it looks like "GTFO"?

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by SkyPapa

And just how did you reach that conclusion based on this post?

Lamarine23 wrote in post #9,

"I think this is the single most important factor to know when purchasing a gfo. As I read it currently the claim is that the High Capacity GFO lasts twice as long but how can you say that without knowing it's absorption abilities?"

Did you read the reply by the sponsor?

I do use regular GFO, just think HC is not worth the extra cost. It's like using premium gasoline where regular works fine. Sure it won't hurt, but it's not optimal for the buyer.

I don't buy the rebuttal on the self contradictory statements based on empirical data.

[SkyPapa]

I have empirical data also, it has less fines than regular gfo that I have SEEN.
I will go with the vendors response.

[bbris]

Originally Posted by drparker

+4, I do this as part of my water change and do the same for my carbon reactor as well.

I do it as the first part of my water change as well. I suppose it does 'use up' the GFO slightly by rinsing it with 'used' water, but I would think the effect is minimal. You're just running a gallon or two through it as compared to how many 100's/1000's of gallons during it's life. I run mine for around a month, partially to stretch my tank dollars.

Bill

[what'scoral]

On Topic:

I would definitely place the output of the reactor in a filter sock trust me after a couple of day you will be amazed what that sock collects!!

Off Topic:

I think the GFO battle will have to come down to some true testing and see TBS to TBS which can remove adsorb the more PO4

[VoodooMach]

Originally Posted by Mastermind

Off topic, but does anyone else see "GFO" in threads and automatically giggle because it looks like "GTFO"?

[cham]

The useful life of GFO is somewhere in the 50,000 to 100,000 gallon range.

If you're using 1 to 2 gallons of old tank water to properly rinse it I would consider that a pretty good waste .00002 of the GFO's life.

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by cham

The useful life of GFO is somewhere in the 50,000 to 100,000 gallon range.

If you're using 1 to 2 gallons of old tank water to properly rinse it I would consider that a pretty good waste .00002 of the GFO's life.

Where did you get the gallon range for gfo? Everything I've seen says that the life of GFO varies based on the amount of po4 in the water and can be exhausted in as little as a day or less.

[cham]

Originally Posted by jason2459

Where did you get the gallon range for gfo? Everything I've seen says that the life of GFO varies based on the amount of po4 in the water and can be exhausted in as little as a day or less.

In the most scientific way possible.......rough estimates.

I've never heard of a reef tank being able to exhaust GFO in a day. I'm interested to know more about that study, do you have a link to it?


I'm guessing that I run about 75gph through my reactor (less when I first replace it and more on the back half of the GFO's life) over the course of 8 to 10 weeks. Some basic math will get you the numbers.

The main point was that the GFO is good for a lot of gallons of water and rinsing with one or two wasn't a waste.

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by cham

In the most scientific way possible.......rough estimates.

I've never heard of a reef tank being able to exhaust GFO in a day. I'm interested to know more about that study, do you have a link to it?


I'm guessing that I run about 75gph through my reactor (less when I first replace it and more on the back half of the GFO's life) over the course of 8 to 10 weeks. Some basic math will get you the numbers.

The main point was that the GFO is good for a lot of gallons of water and rinsing with one or two wasn't a waste.

I'm referencing what I've read in artcles by Randy Homes-Farley in reefkeeping online magazine and his posts in this forum. What I've gathered is that people just starting out using GFO or have a really high amount of po4 will have to replace the GFO more often. Also, it's been suggested to use half the amount recommended at first so it doesn't drop the po4 levels to fast.

If you have high amounts of po4 then I would not want to start out by rinsing with that water. Also, the reason why a person is changing it out is because the po4 levels are starting to rise or have already risen. GFO is not cheap and I would want to get everything I could out of it, including regeneration with NaOH.

[cham]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I'm referencing what I've read in artcles by Randy Homes-Farley in reefkeeping online magazine and his posts in this forum. What I've gathered is that people just starting out using GFO or have a really high amount of po4 will have to replace the GFO more often. Also, it's been suggested to use half the amount recommended at first so it doesn't drop the po4 levels to fast.

If you have high amounts of po4 then I would not want to start out by rinsing with that water. Also, the reason why a person is changing it out is because the po4 levels are starting to rise or have already risen. GFO is not cheap and I would want to get everything I could out of it, including regeneration with NaOH.

If you're starting out with half dosage and already high P04 I'm sure it can exhaust faster (still not sure about less than a day though).

I was more talking about the original topic which in my mind was the routine changing of GFO. Once you're at full strenght and your tank levels are low then GFO typically lasts one to two months. Obviously there are many variables but that's a general timeline.