Disaster avoided... Well sort of...

[higorc]

Did you ever make a mistake about something you know and you always tell people not to do? Well, I did!

About 2 months ago I went on a 5 day vacation and came back home to some visible Bryopsis patch in the rock work, so I realized I hadn't changed my GFO in a while and it was probably depleted and/or leaching phosphates back into the water.

So the "Genius" here panicked (some of you might know I went through hell with this so called devilish Bryopsis a while back!) got a bigger reactor, swapped out the old GFO media and added a little more "just for an extra kick".



Well, a few weeks later I noticed some of my Zoas not doing so good. A few days later I lost Half of one of my Pallys colony... then my softball sized Green Stylo that I've had for over 3 years RTNed in litterely 2 days!!!

At this point I am like WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!!!



Then I saw my Purple-Yellow Tip Stylo starting to RTN...
My Fruit Loop colony melting...
My Blue Hornet colony closed up...
My Tyree Raimbows closing up...
My Raptor Raimbows closing up...
Sour Apple Scolly that I've had for over a year dying with the skeleton showing on one side...
Softball sized Kriptonite Candies with heads melting and Skeleton showing...
Huge Frogspawn pissed off and melting away...
Blastos and Ricordias shrinking...


At this point I am going nuts, testing water daily and in dismay just watching the tank crash in front of my eyes As a last ditch effort I got ready to do a MASSIVE (100G) water change over the course of a few days.


Half way through the water change, I complained to my wife what was happening and she just said-

"Well, have you added anything to the tank lately? Didn't you put that big reactor not too long ago?"


Son of a gun!!! I jumped from the sofa and immediately took the GFO reactor off line... To make a long story short, it's been 4 days now with no GFO and everything has opened up again and/or stopped RTNing... I can't believe it took my wife to find out what was going on and that I made a mistake with the GFO I am very aware of and tell people not to do it all the time.


So there you go. GFO is awesome if you use it the right way, but will KILL your tank if misused. I lost some corals and hopefuly the rest will bounce back. But it could have been a lot worse...


-END OF RANT-



Higor

 

[this is me]

How much more GFO really?
Is it the new reactor is more efficient at tumbling the GFO so that a little ore amount makes a bit difference.

 

[higorc]

How much more GFO really?
Is it the new reactor is more efficient at tumbling the GFO so that a little ore amount makes a bit difference.

I think you hit the nail on the head Nick... I switched from a 2 Little Fishies reactor to a NextReef MR1 Media Reactor (http://www.tbaquatics.com/index.php...Nboj5VZCdVGBdIgCXWxXMVZoFHD88zm_AsaAlE58P8HAQ) because the GFO kept getting forced up and compacted so it wouldn't tumble anymore.

The NextReef MR1 is 4" around and it tumbles perfectly. Not sure how much I used from the top of my head, but I used a little more then recommended for my 120G. Keep in mind that I have been running the 100% quantity of GFO recommended for my tank for a while now, so it's not like it was the first time running it.

Between the new reactor's performance and the extra GFO, I am pretty sure I over dosed the tank



Higor

 

[reefkeeper2]

Why would you want to tumble GFO? It falls apart so easily. Doesn't it contaminate your tank with GFO dust?

 

[reefstarter]

I had same issue sort of recently , been having some wierd funk in tank looks kind of like cyano but not bright red more of a brownish color . could be Diatoms but I don't think so . not that rust color . anyway been cleaning it off rocks doing water changes like crazy , then I realized I hadn't changed my GFO in a while so I Imidiately went down stairs to change it out . I had overfilled the container a bit and said ehhh a little more won't hurt . then I noticed my acans closed up for a few days . again was wondering why . then driving home from work it hit me , after reading this thread . so I took out some and put it back online . Acans have since opened back up , that slime stuff is slowly going away . its ending up in my fuge but thats ok , let it grow there just not in my DT . theory is it will eventually die and I can easily scoop it out of fuge . Thanks Higor for the reminder

 

[dcforester1]

I don't think you want it to tumble, but move a little so it doesn't turn into a block of GFO. I set mine so it it looks like an ant colony on the sides, small streams moving up and down the side of the reactor.

 

[Flame Angel]

Kristen is a keeper.

 

[higorc]

Kristen is a keeper.

Yes she is!


Not sure if tumble is the right word, I meant to say the top of it moves around. Carbon is the one that breaks down easily, GFO not so much. GFO is suppose to move around a little unlike Carbon.


Higor