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Hang nori soaked in garlic/selcon daily for them. If you've put them in a display go with actinics only for a couple of days, to keep the lights dim as Matt suggested. Formula 1 & 2 frozen foods too. The more they eat the easier they'll be able to rebound.
Unless the flow HAS to go through the GFO no. All water flowing through a PO4 reactor HAS to come in contact with the GFO. In a bag in a chamber of the sump there is a path of least resistance. The outter portions of the media bag will come in greater contact with water than the inner portions...
The glass part of a 250w bulb is 8" (not including the mogul) and the bulb measures 6" circumference. Any smaller than that and you'll have to have someone measure a 175. I can hardly stand 10Ks. I much prefer a 12K bulb.
Do they look deep purple? Pale purple? White? Are they VHOs? T5s? MHs? Give us a little more info and an idea of the color spectrum. The fixture brand, who you bought it from and if it was new then or not may also help narrow it down.
I was thinking about you when this came up. Good luck with the water test. Hopefully we'll be around to lend a hand (between baseball & soccer next Saturday is going to be tough).
We have 570g and we use one reactor just fine. That in combination with kalk, especially if you're testing low (though hobbiest kits don't really work), will be perfect.
There's actually another kind of reactor that both Brian & Jose have. Wait for their reviews before making the purchase.