Too Much Carbon or HCGFO?
 

Hello,

I'm planning on running Carbon and HCGFO in separate reactors on my new, and first, marine tank. According to the calculator on BRS, I should be running 0.63 cups of Carbon and 0.78 cups of HCGFO. Are there any problems of just rounding it up to 1 cup of each?

Thanks,

Ron

Carbon unlikely. But GFO … you want to be careful with GFO. It has a tendency to strip the water of nutrients very very quickly, which can cause problems. GFO also has a lowering effect on alkalinity in large quantities.

In my experience with GFO, less is better than more.

Carbon can strip the water of beneficial nutrients and minerals as well. It is a non-selective adsorbent and can even remove oxygen from the tank.

I'd stick with the recommended dosage and if required work up to the full 1 cup.

Too much carbon can lead to HLLE as well.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...r-hlle-disease

Thanks for the replies.

I will start with a half cup of each then and work my way up. I'll be running them right from the start when I have no livestock so I guess there is no rush to increase the amounts.