Rinsing gfo

[Scotty Fraiser]

Can someone please explain to me how they rinse bulk reef supply Gfo. I am running a nextreef reactor. I have been putting three cups in reactor with one cup of carbon. Sticking the water hose on inlet and let it run through the media. This works ok but not gonna be fun this winter when it's freezing outside. How do y'all do it?

 

[Phranque]

Do your media change right before doing a pwc....... change the media and run the output into a bucket until it runs clear, then put the output line back and finish your water change.
And, unless I misread, you shouldn't be mixing GFO and carbon together...... you want GFO to lightly tumble, but not carbon. If carbon tumbles, it can grind itself up, and with GFO being harder than carbon, it will compound this.

 

[carey]

I agree with the above poster, it would be really easy doing it like that. And no, you do not want gfo and carbon in the same reactor, each has different levels of flow that they need to lightly tumble.

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Are you supposed to let carbon tumble at all? You are correct that I have them mixed. Intake to reactor shut off mostly for only a slight tumble with the Gfo. This is not a good idea? Guess I could just put carbon in a bag in bubble trap.

 

[ants86]

If you have two foam pads, you could put gfo at the bottom of the reactor canister, place a foam pad a couple inches above the gfo, then carbon, then another foam pad right above the carbon so it doesn't have room to tumble. This is how the BRS deluxe reactor (single canister) works. It has been working really well for me. I can adjust the amount of tumbling for the gfo by adjusting the intake valve, but the carbon doesn't tumble because it is held in place by the pads.

You should be able to get pads cheap from any hardware store. Just make sure it is porous and that you cut it so that it fits snugly into the canister. Or just buy the BRS reactor. It's pretty reasonably priced and looks clean.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I stopped using GFO. It's a mess. I am a big fan of Purigen. It can recharged dozens of times and I think it is much easier to work with than that nasty red stuff that stains everything.

 

[ants86]

Grey, can Purigen be used in a simple canister reactor? Is it purely for phosphate reduction?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Grey, can Purigen be used in a simple canister reactor? Is it purely for phosphate reduction?

You can use it any way that contains it and allows water to flow thru it. It is designed to remove nitrogenous organic waste products, which include ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. It is handy to be able to see it as it changes color when it gets exhausted.