GFO reactor

[turbosek]

I have a Nextreef MR1. I am running it about half full of BRS HC GFO. It is running about 150 gph. I have the sponge on the bottom and top. For the first few weeks, I had the GFO slowly tumbling. Now the lower sponge raises up and pushes the GFO up to the top against the top sponge. So no tumbling now as the GFO is compressed between the sponges. Will this affect the effectiveness of the GFO? I am concerned that the surface area exposure might be reduced.

Within a few days of this occurring, I notice a small outbreak of green hair algae on the glass. My tank is about 6 months old. I used 50% dry rock and 50% live rock from my old tank....so I assume there is phosphate leaching from the live rock. I did have the usual algae outbreak in the first few months, but after starting the GFO a month ago, the algae went away. With its reoccurance, I am concerned the GFO may not be as effective now. I am running 3 cups in my 200 gal system, so I figured it should last at least 2 months.

Any comments or suggestions?

[redfishblewfish]

I switch out my GFO once a month. Your reactor/foam pad is probably clogged with detritus.

[Dbondaruk]

This tread is old
I'm having same problem,anyone have any ideas, mine happens within a day f replacing gfo

[Timber77]

yep, try mixing it in with carbon and use floss or sponges on the top and bottom… some will say its wasting gfo as it normally lasts a little longer than carbon…. i say its fairly common to see everyone with tumbling issues and if you just mix them together it plain works for sure and you can fill the second chamber of the brs reactor with floss to catch most of the rust particles … plus no need to constantly look to see if the gfo is tumbling or keep adjusting the dial… it does not need to tumble to work at all

[slief]

Originally Posted by Dbondaruk

This tread is old
I'm having same problem,anyone have any ideas, mine happens within a day f replacing gfo

Sounds like you have way too much flow. You only need enough flow to barely get the GFO moving on the surface. Too much flow will cause the sponge and media to rise up and it also causes the GFO to break down. Also, make sure you water supply for your reactor isn't taking in micro bubbles with the water. If that happens, the air will collect in the lower sponge and GFO causing it to raise up. You could also try adding more GFO to the reactor so the sponge is weighted down more below the GFO.

I'm not a fan of mixing GFO and carbon together in the same reactor. Both have different flow rates and last different time lengths. A properly adjusted GFO reactor should have no issues keeping GFO at the bottom of the reactor.

FWIW, the original poster in this thread mentioned 150GPH through his GFO reactor. I think that would be WAY too much flow. I have a pretty large GFO reactor if I had to guess, I'm probably running about 60GPH to get a very subtle tumble on the surface of the GFO. My carbon reactor on the other had has more than double the flow of my GFO reactor.

[Dbondaruk]

When I set it up the top layer barely tumbled though

[moondoggy4]

I get the plastic crafting circles and cut them to size and use zip ties to hold it down, that way the sponge does not rise.