GFO or "Granulated Ferric Oxide" is an extremely efficient method of removing Phosphates from your water column, as well as many other metals.
GFO or UC GFO?
Ultra Capacity Granulated Ferric Oxide is more expensive, but has a greater ability to absorb Phosphates than regular capacity and doesn't leach Phosphates back into the water column once at capacity as much as the regular capacity.
We usually use regular capacity when removing Copper or polish water after some kind of treatment, where we plan to discard the media after, or if you're just using it very short term, or occasionally as needed when levels creep up a bit, and you don't want to save the media between uses, Regular Capacity makes sense. Any application where continued use is the plan, we highly recommend Ultra Capacity.
How to implement?
Baffles/Zipper Bags:
While you certainly can use GFO this way, it should be noted this is an extremely ineffective and inconsistent method of use. For fine tuning this will not work well. The rate and way that the water flows through the GFO has a huge impact on the effectiveness of the media, so as the bag moves around a bit in the baffle and flows differently through the bag, you will see swings in how it works.
Media Chamber:
The Preferred Method for using GFO consistently and efficiently is to have it continuously tumbling in a Media Chamber. We recommend a Bashsea Media Chamber with the corresponding recommended Sicce Pump - not just a pump chosen because you happen to have it. The rate of flow through the chamber is crucial and these chambers are specifically designed for the Sicce Pumps.
DRC Recommendations:
Multi media, carbon, GFO fresh and salt water media reactor for aquariums up to 120 gallons.
Multi media, carbon, GFO fresh and salt water media reactor for aquariums up to 350 gallons.
Syncra Silent pumps are ideal for fresh water and marine aquariums, terrariums and turtle tanks, protein skimmers, water-cooling, indoor and outdoor fountains and for any other application that requires a high performance, extremely silent pump.
Syncra Silent pumps are ideal for fresh water and marine aquariums, terrariums and turtle tanks, protein skimmers, water-cooling, indoor and outdoor fountains and for any other application that requires a high performance, extremely silent pump.
WARNING! Never Combine GFO & Carbon together, as this will release unwanted toxins into your water column!
How much to use?
This depends Greatly system to system.
- Once beginning use for the first time, test frequently to see the affects of the dose to make sure you're not going below 0.03.
- We recommend an ideal range of 0.03-0.09.
- We highly recommend measuring your dose based on weight, so that when you change your media you can replace with the same amount (or alter based on the results from the first run).
Below is a chart with recommended starting amounts based on general ranges.
| Phosphates | Low (0.11-0.30) | Med (0.31-0.74) | High (0.75+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-25 Gallons | 25g | 50g | 75g |
| 25-50 Gallons | 50g | 100g | 150g |
| 50-90 Gallons | 100g | 150g | 200g |
| 90-150 Gallons | 150g | 300g | 500g |
| 150-300 Gallons | 200g | 400g | 800g |