Q:我正在考虑在我的礁石坦克中使用GFO,但是该产品对我来说是新的,所以在继续购买之前,我有一些问题:GFO真的在降低硝酸盐和磷酸盐方面做得很好吗?我可以将该产品放入媒体袋中并将其放在我的水箱中吗?另外,我听说,如果您不小心,GFO的灰尘最终可能会遍布您的水箱。真的吗?如果是这样,我该如何防止这种情况发生?谢谢!
- 莎拉·默瑟(Sarah Mercer)提交
答:感谢您的提问,莎拉!让我们一次向他们发光。首先,您提到,您正在考虑使用GFO或颗粒状氧化铁在礁系统中降低硝酸盐和磷酸盐。您应该知道该产品不会去除硝酸盐,因此您必须使用其他手段来实现这一目标。但是,它可以在降低磷酸盐方面做得很好,这可以帮助限制不良的藻类生长,同时促进水族馆的珊瑚增长。
With respect to your question about putting the GFO in a media bag somewhere in your system, the answer is, yes, you can do that provided you put the bag in a high-flow area. However, that’s not the most efficient approach to using this product. A much better alternative is to place the GFO in a reactor in order to maximize flow and the contact time between the water and media.
With this method, aquarium water is pumped through a tube into a cylindrical chamber containing the GFO and then flows out of the reactor and back into the system through a second tube. The flow rate into the reactor is adjusted so the GFO tumbles very, very gently—just enough to prevent it from clumping together into a solid block (which will happen if there is no tumbling whatsoever). Usually these reactors are placed in or adjacent to a sump.
As far as GFO dust is concerned, a few simple steps will prevent it from being discharged into your reef system. First, any time you put fresh GFO into your reactor, you need to run some aquarium water through it (with the return tube placed in a bucket or other receptable) until it runs clear, indicating that all those dusty fines have been rinsed out.
Spending the extra cash for higher-density pelletized GFO versus the less costly granular product will also help reduce the likelihood of discharging fines into your system. This product tends to be less dusty to begin with and rinses clean much faster than standard granular GFO. While the denser product is significantly more expensive by volume, you don’t need to use as much of it to get the same results compared to the cheaper product, so it’s almost a wash from a cost standpoint.
Finally, as I alluded earlier, make sure the flow rate through your reactor isn’t so high that the GFO tumbles too vigorously. GFO is a relatively hard substance—compared, for example, to activated carbon—but it can still produce dust if it continuously grinds against itself. So, to reiterate, adjust the flow into the reactor such that it allows the media to tumble very gently.
话虽如此,请记住,不应将GFO视为替代良好的水族馆维护习惯。您仍然需要保持常规水的换气(尽管使用GFO和其他媒体可能会让您将它们放在更远的地方),明智地喂鱼和珊瑚,等等。