Phosphate removal capacities of various GFOs

[JNalley]

I thought that the majority of the "good" bacteria resides in the media bricks?

It populates any porous surfaces where food is present. This includes Rocks, Sponges, Filter Media, etc. The BioMedia is manufactured to give them a lot of surface area to grow/populate. That doesn't mean that they aren't everywhere though. It is true that they will only populate to what they can sustain, which is why I said remove bricks first, wait two weeks to let them grow in number again taking up more of the surfaces that already exist, then remove the gallon of balls, and they will repopulate to the rock/sponges, etc.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Logic would dictate (for whatever that's worth-lol) that Triton would be referring to the form of AL that their test detects, or so I would think...

Well, since icp detects all forms of elements, that’s a nonissue.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, I agree, waters changes to be of most immediate help. Dilution is the Solution. Unless the aluminium is somehow entering from top off/ water change, hmmm.

I expect it is from the marine pure.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The challenge with removing the ceramic media blocks is that the contain my bio filtration and so if I remove them I would expect my levels of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate to spike. It was suggested at BRS that I add some Marco rocks in a filter bag, wait 2 weeks and pull a block. I have three large blocks and a gallon of their spheres.

Id pull them slowly, without replacing them, unless they are crumbling in which case I’d pull them faster.

I have never heard of a reef tank with chronic elevated ammonia. I think the need for surfaces for bacteria in an established reef tank is frequently exaggerated. Corals and algae and such may take up the ammonia directly.

 

[taricha]

I have never heard of a reef tank with chronic elevated ammonia. I think the need for surfaces for bacteria in an established reef tank is frequently exaggerated.

adding to Randy's point here...
Interestingly, when @Dan_P measures how quickly nitrifying biofilms can process ammonia, he finds that bare glass can hold enough nitrifying bacteria to process as much ammonia as a reef tank could want.
I think reef tanks have plenty of surface area for bacteria to do whatever you'd hope they do. Even if a huge portion of that bacteria were on media, as you remove it, the populations elsewhere will scale up over a few days to a week.

 

[Dan_P]

adding to Randy's point here...
Interestingly, when @Dan_P measures how quickly nitrifying biofilms can process ammonia, he finds that bare glass can hold enough nitrifying bacteria to process as much ammonia as a reef tank could want.
I think reef tanks have plenty of surface area for bacteria to do whatever you'd hope they do. Even if a huge portion of that bacteria were on media, as you remove it, the populations elsewhere will scale up over a few days to a week.

…and recently, I have gained a new appreciation for micro algae‘s ability to grow on clean surfaces and suck up nitrogen and phosphorous. If the system is illuminated, there will be nitrogen devouring photosynthetic organisms to soak up ammonia and nitrate. If I recall correctly, @taricha surveyed his aquarium’s uptake of nitrogen and found that the nitrifying bacteria might not be devouring the lion’s share of ammonia.