Slow growth, little polyp extension, but good color

[Ghost25]

Skimmer intake had been run outside, I added 15g of Kalk to my 5 gallon ATO. Previously I was running about 25g in there so there shouldn't be any risk of overdosing but I'll watch the numbers.

Any idea how fast GFO becomes saturated when it's sitting in 1ppm phosphate? It's my understanding that phosphate can build up in the rock and sand and then release as it's absorbed by the GFO. So even if the numbers staying stable on the phosphate you don't know for sure if it's still sucking it up or not. Right now there is 15g of RowaPhos that I added just 3 days ago.

 

[Spare time]

I would run the a80 at a 100% you you could also run the prime with higher numbers (particularly violet). Do this and watch to see how your alk consumption changes

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Skimmer intake had been run outside, I added 15g of Kalk to my 5 gallon ATO. Previously I was running about 25g in there so there shouldn't be any risk of overdosing but I'll watch the numbers.

Any idea how fast GFO becomes saturated when it's sitting in 1ppm phosphate? It's my understanding that phosphate can build up in the rock and sand and then release as it's absorbed by the GFO. So even if the numbers staying stable on the phosphate you don't know for sure if it's still sucking it up or not. Right now there is 15g of RowaPhos that I added just 3 days ago.

Bro….your tank is 20g. Just do a bunch of 12-15g wc’s until your Po4 drops to your desired level.

I never had good PE using gfo and/or carbon dosing. I’ll never use that stuff again.

Just a little PE today

youtube.com

 

[Spare time]

Bro….your tank is 20g. Just do a bunch of 12-15g wc’s until your Po4 drops to your desired level.

I never had good PE using gfo and/or carbon dosing. I’ll never use that stuff again.

Just a little PE today

youtube.com

The rock and sand has probably absorbed a lot and water changes can be a pain in the donkey sometimes lol

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

The rock and sand has probably absorbed a lot and water changes can be a pain in the donkey sometimes lol

I’d rather do a wc than mess with a nasty a55 gfo reactor. Besides the title is asking for better PE. It won’t happen using gfo.

 

[JCOLE]

That makes sense, the tank is in my bedroom which has been fairly closed up because it's winter. It's 8" from the window so it shouldn't be too hard to run an airline.

I was running Kalk in the ATO but stopped recently, I'll restart but using less Kalk.

Sounds like a plan. Do you know what your current daily pH is?

 

[JCOLE]

Skimmer intake had been run outside, I added 15g of Kalk to my 5 gallon ATO. Previously I was running about 25g in there so there shouldn't be any risk of overdosing but I'll watch the numbers.

Any idea how fast GFO becomes saturated when it's sitting in 1ppm phosphate? It's my understanding that phosphate can build up in the rock and sand and then release as it's absorbed by the GFO. So even if the numbers staying stable on the phosphate you don't know for sure if it's still sucking it up or not. Right now there is 15g of RowaPhos that I added just 3 days ago.

Looks good. Monitor your pH over thr next couple days to see if it has improved.

Also, I want to echo that I think you should leave the GFO off. I would see how the pH looks, adjust PAR and flow if needed, do some water changes and see how it looks over the next week before GFO.

 

[Ghost25]

I don't have a pH meter currently, I just ordered one though so it should be here in a week.

I removed the GFO for now. I reduced the flow just a bit because the sand was blowing around too much, and I bumped the lights just a bit, but honestly probably less than 10% increase. We'll see what happens. Thanks everyone.

 

[Ghost25]

I got my pH meter today. It's been a week since I ran the skimmer line outside and added kalk to the ATO. I also did at least 15 gallons worth of water changes in the last week (necessary as I had fish in hospital tank).

Today pH is 7.94, on the low side from what I've been reading but not much I can do about it I guess. Presumably pH was significantly lower in the previous weeks.

 

[Greg P]

It's still 0.98ppm phosphate.

I'll spell it out again. I have a Hanna model HI774. The HI774 tests phosphate (the anionic molecule composed of one phosphorus atom and four oxygens.) It measures this compound in a range of 0.00 to 0.90ppm.

You seem to think I have the Hanna model HI736 which tests phosphorus alone, even though I said I didn't have that. Then you posted a picture that says how to convert the phosphorous reading from the HI736 to phosphate. But I don't need that because: I DON'T HAVE THE HI736, I HAVE THE HI774 WHICH REPORTS PHOSPHATES NOT PHOSPHORUS.

Sorry for my causing you to have some confusion - and my info being useless and combative
I'll chalk it up to my brain being stuck in a mode I won't state here ...

Glad you figured out your stuff

 

[Ghost25]

Sorry for my causing you to have some confusion - and my info being useless and combative
I'll chalk it up to my brain being stuck in a mode I won't state here ...

Glad you figured out your stuff

No worries, it happens. For what it's worth I didn't think you came off as combative.