Almost Killed my corals

sen5241b

sen5241b

Reef enthusiast
Cleaned out my fuge last night to find my cheato had shrunk by approx. 75% ! I do not have a skimmer and I do not have a phosphate reactor. My tank is very dependent upon the cheato to export phosphates and nitrates. The glass between the cheato and plant light had a lot of crusty stuff on it blocking the light and there was some over-feeding that caused the cheato to slime. Seems like a lot of the cheato turned into a white, black and reddish slime. It was disgusting. Fortunately I had a a lot of cheato in my other tank I could use.

Point is, if you rely on cheato to export 'trates like I do, you better keep backup cheato somewheres.

I do have Phosgaurd but the directions say to rinse it well and use it only a temporary basis otherwise you will get too much aluminum in your tank.

Does anyone run a phosphate reactor 24/7 and if so what do you have in it? What kind of reactor do you use?
 
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On the Phosgaurd, I would think about replacing it with GFO. I dont run either, but GFO doesnt have aluminum in it to leach back into the water. I also once bought a small thing of soe phosphate remover, cant remember the brand, that was aluminum based and the instructions said not to use on a reef tank. Ofcourse the outside of the box said safe for all marine tanks:grumble:

Also, my cheato wasnt doing too well. I realized that it was sitting in stagnant water. Every time I turned it, it would stink the room up something rancid. The way my fuge is set up, I just added a long piece of PVC to have the water feeding the fuge go in from the bottom instead of the top. Within a week, the cheato trippled in size.
 
I'm running a BRS reactor with their GFO small pellets. It runs 24/7 in my sump and no ill effects what so ever. The cheato I got from bif has not grown, assuming because the GFO is removing most the nutrients for it. I replace my GFO about once a month.
 
jarock said:
doesnt that get pricey running rowophos 24/7 ?!
Click to expand...

Not really, it lasts about a month. If your phosphates are really high you might have to change it earlier till your reading is zero. Once its at zero the GFO does a great job at keeping it there. Bulk Reef Supply has a great GFO thats cheap. Im going to switch after my Rowophos runs out. Just keep the flow low going into the reactor, you want the media to simmer at the top. To much flow and you'll pulverize the media and it will go into your main tank

Bulk packaged Granular ferric oxide GFO for aquariums - English
 
MushroomXombies said:
Not really, it lasts about a month. If your phosphates are really high you might have to change it earlier till your reading is zero. Once its at zero the GFO does a great job at keeping it there. Bulk Reef Supply has a great GFO thats cheap. Im going to switch after my Rowophos runs out. Just keep the flow low going into the reactor, you want the media to simmer at the top. To much flow and you'll pulverize the media and it will go into your main tank

Bulk packaged Granular ferric oxide GFO for aquariums - English
Click to expand...


Interesting. How many GPH do you suppose you need to push thru the reactor?
 

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