Can you recharge GFO by running it through RO water?

[MarsReefer]

I'm trying out GFO for the first time, and everywhere I read says that it needs to be changed out quickly once it's used up because it will leech phosphate back into the tank once the tank levels are lower than the amount absorbed into the GFO.

Does this mean I can run it in a reactor in a bucket of RO water to leech all the captured phosphate back into the water and then reuse it in the tank? Just changing out the water every day until it stops leeching? Could I even use tap water if it has no phosphates?

Anyone ever tried this?

 

[Pistondog]

Good question, should work in theory.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think it would take a lot of water because phosphate will bind pretty strongly from Ro/DI water. I've not heard of anyone trying it. At low pH the process will go a lot faster, but it's a tricky balance because the GFO will also slowly dissolve.

 

[MarsReefer]

Well I’ll give it a try for a few days and see how high phosphates get in the water

 

[Garf]

Well I’ll give it a try for a few days and see how high phosphates get in the water

Have you seen this method? No idea if it was ever widely used in practice or how effective it was;

Aquarium Chemistry: Regeneration of Granular Ferric Oxide Media with Sodium Hydroxide

For aquarists who keep non-photosynthetic corals that require massive feeding, have large tanks, or a dense fish population the costs of regular GFO replacement can be significant. With a few simple tools and techniques we can easily regenerate GFO so that it can be reused several times over.

reefs.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The phosphate in the ro water is not likely to get any higher then it was in the tank, so you would need to change the water many times to deplete the GFO . That was my point.