GARF Grunge

[Fishie Nut]

Has anyone used this. I bought 5 lbs for my 30 gal hex. Before I placed it in the tank, my water was pristene -- a little high in nitrates, but within normal limits. I was told to turn off my protien skimmer for four weeks and let the Grunge do its work.

A week later -- today -- I have two fish die. My water chem is abominable. Coral and inverts look good for the most part. So I truned my skimmer back on, did a 20 percent water change and I'm hoping for the best.

Anyone have any experience with this stuff?? :confused:

[Subrafta]

You did the right thing with the water change & turning the skimmer back on. Test your ammonia and nitrate levels -- you may have more water changes ahead.

The Gunge probably had some die-off during shipping (any live rock / live sand will), and in a 30g tank there's not a lot of excess biofilter to absorb that.

I haven't used Garf, and I've heard mixed reviews on the "gunge". They were one of the first places to start selling the stuff from the bottom of their live rock tanks, but most places will these days.

If you were on this side of the Mississippi I'd recommend Premium Aquatics or Phishy Business above Garf for live rock products. In LA you should access to everything from direct wholesalers to decent LFS's, but I don't have any names.

Good luck, and sorry to hear about your fish.

John

[buckeyecountry]

I had a buddy buy the "garf grunge" and it seemed to do the trick for him. I am in a cycle of algae over growth and was thinking of getting some myself. So if anyone else has any feed back on the "grunge" good or bad please post a reply. thanks in advance.

[Fishie Nut]

Thanks John.
The people at GARF are really helpful and knowledgable. Their "janitors" are doing a good job in my tank. Things are looking up.

Thanks again
Geo