(resolved) GFO dust everywhere

I had to share this picture! I basted half the rock off and what a difference! You can really see how bad it had got

 

Wow what a difference.

 

i have my gfo and carbon outlet going into a sock. it stops any thing that should get out from getting into the tank. is kind of a fail safe. i clean the sock when i change the gfo and carbon.

 

the mesh type they are easier to clean.

 

Nice idea on the sock. I dumped mine onto a fish net with filter floss in it. I would swap out the floss occasionally.

 

Originally when I wanted to run GFO and carbon I thought of the dual BRS reactor. But since the carbon and the GFO have different lifespans I chose to go separate. Maintenance wise I knew it would be easier but more expensive . :-/

TO answer your question I rinse my GFO by running my system in a bucket of fresh water to flush the fine particles out. Also I use the high capacity GFO over the standard. Not sure if the standard has less dust than the High Capacity. If you dont want to go through the trouble of flushing the system out before attaching directly to your system I do like the the solution as mentioned previously about running the out to the filter sock. Personally I don't enjoy changing my sock, so anything I can do to lengthen the time between changes is a bonus for me.

Good luck with the turkey basting!!

 

There is no need to get anything different. I ran regular BRS GFO without any problems. Just rinse it off.

You can run both easily, just cut the amount on the GFO to change out with the carbon. The Carbon should not really go 2 weeks... but I did, I just used a half of the GFO to change it every two weeks.... but I had separates and changed one weekly.

With the dual reactor... the ROX will clog up easily and reduce flow through both, you will need to keep adjusting the flow to keep the GFO tumbling to account for this.

 

That was the problem, I would rinse it until the water ran clear when I put new media in, but it's hard to adjust the valve a hair for more flow as it stops tumbling. I like the idea of using half the GFO and changing them both out bi-weekly with my water change. I will also throw a sock on there just incase accidents happen.

Thank you everyone for sharing your ideas! I feel more comfortable going forward with a better plan now

 

Just an update on this ongoing problem lol.

When I changed both out, I let the gfo run and left the carbon empty. After 2 1/2 gallons it was still not running clear, but I had to throw the carbon on and go with it b/c I was out of new saltwater.

I threw on a 4x8" new filter sock over the reactor outlet tube in my return chamber. It was completely brown after 2 days, and when I pulled it out to clean it, it made my return chamber instantly brown and cloudied up my DT.

Today I'm going to baste the rocks and powerheads to get the dust off, siphon it off my sand, and shop vac whatevers in the bottom of the sump.

In the future I'm going to go with the suggestion of rinsing the gfo before it goes into the reactor, as well as letting it run 5 gallons or whatever it takes to run clear water through. Then add the carbon in.

Hoping I'm now taking all the precautions I can to not let this happen again, it makes things pretty unsightly

 

I rinse my gfo BEFORE it goes into my reactor. I measure it out by the cup and then put it in a jard shake it VIGOROUSLY then pour the fines down the drain. I do this several time, and have never had fines in my tank. Do you lose more gfo this way? sure but its better than the alternative!