My GFO thread

OBSERVATION:

Well its been right at 24 hours on line. Roughly 480 gallons of water have been circulated through the reactor @ 20gph. A complete system turn over of about 5. I tested the water with my API kit. For the first time in a long time it is showing 0.0 ppm for Phosphates. Now, do I believe what I'm seeing? Not really. Not in 24 hours. It will be interesting to see if this holds true tomorrow when I test again.

Visually there is no noticeable improvement or reduction of the cyano. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be covering any more of the sand bed either. Can't wait for the filter socks to get here so I can scoop up some of this mess!
 
Another comment:

In my reading it has been alluded to that high levels of nitrates are necessary for cyano to grow. It is also stated that even though testing shows normal amounts of nitrates the bacteria consume it so quickly that test results are often incorrect. I have no doubt where the nitrates were coming from in my system. (The sponge filter) However, I'm finding it hard to believe that testing didn't give me some indication that I had a problem approaching.

As some who have read my dribblings here know, I test. I over test. I test my tests! I've called API 3 times to verify my supplies were good. I take samples to a TRUSTED LFS and they test them. Not once since I've started this tank, have I had any reading but 0.0ppm for nitrates. SO how do we know whats really going on if we can trust our testing?

Several changes also took place about the time I started seeing this. First was the addition of Cheato to my sump. It never seems to grow and actually started falling apart. So much so that it was clogging up my skimmer impeller. Second was the addition of two corals. A Yellow Polyp Colony and the first of my Zoa's. Third was the addition of new t5 lighting. The fourth, which appears to have only added to the mess, was the additional spot feeding of PhytoPlan to my corals. I can't help but wonder if this was brought into the tank by an addition, if the added lighting spurred the bloom or if the extra feeding pushed everything over the top. Maybe it was a combination of all of them.

Two things I know about this stuff now is that it needs nitrates and phosphates to grow. Since I now have a Phosphate reactor I must now turn my attention to how to reduce nitrates. I know water changes are the best removal tool, but what else can be done to lower levels? Time for more research!
 
Also, if you have algae dying in your tank -- like when your chaeto disintegrated, when it breaks down, it will release any phosphates and nitrates stored in it back into the water. That is why when you are trying to kill off algae, it's important to physically remove the algae instead of just leaving it to die in the tank.
 
Observation:

Another day gone by. No reduction in the red slime on the bottom, but it hasn't gotten any bigger. I did notice a small amount of algae growth on one side glass. Much less than 2 days would have brought a week ago. Its only on one side. Front and stage left look good. I think its doing a little good.

As mentioned above. When algae dies, it releases all that stuff it was pulling out of the water column. I have removed the cheato since it wasn't growing anyway. With the reactor in place, assuming it was still alive, it would start to die off as the phosphates are removed. Well, there is a chance it would anyway. I did notice it had a very fishy smell to it when I pulled it out. Not real sure that means anything. Maybe it too was catching some of the un eaten food in the tank.

All the fish seem to have made it through the temperature drop okay. No signs of stress or odd behaviour.
 
With the GFO in place, you should definitely see an improvement in cyano, it will just take some time. If you can, start sucking up any of the cyano that you can using either a siphon hose or a turkey baster.

As far as nitrates go, your best be is to step up water changes, and potentially look into some macros, and there are also nitrate removing medias that you can run in a reactor. I noticed that you were feeding phyto to your corals. It is very easy to overfeed with that and muck up your water quality- you may want to discontinue feeding that until you have the algae under control
 
The phytoplan was stopped right when this stared to show up as suggested by little_fish. I may add cheato back to the sump at some point. For now I am going to add some more rock to the sump. Maybe another 20 lbs or so. In the amen time I'll see if I can find something to put into a reactor to help out. I will also be doing another 25% WC Thursday.

Thanks for the advise!
 
Observation:

My Filter socks came in last night. Not exactly what I was expecting. The unit won't work with my sump so I'm going to cannibalize it and adapt socks to my current setup. That is once I find an acrylic adhesive. I was able to get a sock in place temporarily over night.

Since the sock was in place, I took my net and scooped out the majority of the red slime along with some sand. I'm going to have to figure out how to replace that at some point. For the most part it hasn't returned. FOR THE MOST PART. I have noticed an area where it has returned. Much smaller area. I also noticed last night that the perimeter was starting to look brown not red. I think that it was dead? Anyway, I'll keep my eye on it.

I did turn up the flow to the reactor a bit. Not sure how to judge gph, but its nowhere near full, or even half of the 606's capacity. The Phosban is not tumbling but I can definitely see it moving now. I think this is what is call fluidization and that is what the reactor is made to do.

I'm thinking of buying another for carbon. I would really like to split the output of the pump by using a Y fitting. I'm pretty sure the 606 can run two of them. It would just be a matter of finding the right combination of valve settings so both units would have the correct flow. It flows a max of 185 gph so I think it would work. I do have another 606 that is part of my ATO system. I might look into a smaller one for that system and use the 606 for the reactor if the Y fitting idea doesn't pan out. Just what I need, ANOTHER thing to plug in!
 
Observation:

Another day. Oh boy. Kinda down about this today. As some have read, it seems two of my fish have ick. Well, I guess the tank has been stressed so its not that unexpected. I just hate that my fish are sick. The Royal Gramma scared the crap out of me last night! It was sleeping laying on its side on a rock. I thought it was a goner! Seems to be eating okay today as is the Damsel. No one else seems to show any signs of it but I am worried that the FoxFace will get it. That fish has been stressed out since I brought it home. Never has lost its stripe.

The Cyano is no worse today. I did note that with the lights out last night, the cyano is no longer visible. It does show up again when the lights are back on. As yesterday, the areas are starting to show brown around the edges. I hope this is a good sign. I am NOT going to try to remove any of it for now. I want the fish to encounter as little stress as possible. They don't need me digging around in there and stirring up the sand bed.

I did get the filter sock installed and it is catching something. Its dirty anyway! I'll leave it alone until tomorrow when I do a WC. Again, not to stress out the fish, I'll be doing it via the sump and not the DT. I'm going to get another Phosban reactor and pump. The reactor will be for carbon and the pump for water changes. I'm going to use a "Y" fitting to split the output of the MN606 between the two reactors.

My skimmer finally settled down too. Boy was that frustrating. Glad its back to normal though. At least something is getting pulled out.
 
I would do a blackout, it will help get rid of the cyano and will calm your fish down. Do a big water change to day, turn the lights out for three days and then do another big water change.
 
Note:

Did a 10% WC yesterday and another 5% this morning. Changed filter sock. Noted an increased amount of cyano on the sand. Fed the fish and blacked out the tank.

My skimmer went nuts again. Not sure whats wrong with it. Unplugged it for now. Will try it again when I return from the LFS. Gotta pick up a little pump to do WC's. The syphon method is for the birds! Takes too much time and is just too messy.

I'm hoping a few days of black out will get this under control. Not sure what I will do if it doesn't. May have to go the chemical route as a last ditch effort. Will wait until I make my first GFO change before I make that decision.

Question: since I'm just starting the GFO reactor and have such an issue, when would be a good time to change out the media? 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks? The instructions say 4 - 6 weeks. What ya think?
 
So I know what's wrong with skimmer. (see skimmer thread). I have some meds for the fish that are reef safe. (I hope) I have the GFO reactor going and the tank blackd out. Wish me well!
 
Pulled the Blackout off today. And......No visible cyano!!!! Between the GFO reactor, water changes, the black out and getting rid of that sponge filter, I think I have it licked!

The fish meds are to support their immune system and not to rid them of the ich. And it seems to have done some good. The Damsel is looking great and the RG is showing definite signs of improvement.

Once I removed the black out I found two sundial snails and removed them. They are in the sump now. One of my mushrooms has been relocated. Not sure by whom, but I'm guessing it was one of the turbos. I'm hoping it will survive in its new location. I'm not going to put anything in the tank to move it so its on its own. I think my Favia corals are dead though. Oh well. If thats all I lose, I'll be happy.

I'm happy that it appears that I am getting this behind me. It was very frustrating and went down hill really quickly.
 
Sounds like you are making progress. The cyano may still come back when the lights come back on. If you have to do another blackout, that's okay. Be sure to do some substantial water changes in the meantime. Whenever any bad stuff dies off in your tank, it re-releases its nutrients back into the water.
 
Will do. Planning on a 5 gallon per day for the next 10 days with an extra 5 gallons twice. I did a 10 gallon last night while it was blacked out. It looks better now than it has in a while though.
 
Just an update. Things are looking much better. Everyone seems happy and healthy. The damsel appears healed and the RG looks 200% better. Almost back to normal. Sand is still clean. Water changes are still going. With tomorrows change I will have done 110% WC I've the past week. Will go back to 10% a week after that. All tests look good though the PO4 test still looks the exact same as it did before and during the outbreak.
 
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