Ohio Reef
Reef Discussion => Water Chemistry => Topic started by: Warhawk937 on September 29, 2018, 11:13:28
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So this is the first for me. This time around When setting up the thank I made sure to have room for carbon gfo reactor. 6 months later I cant get a reading for phos or nitrate and this is a bit concerning. I have turned off the reactor and will continue to test regularly. What methods do you guys use for maintaining a very low nutrient level with out being completely void. Ive heard of people dosing nitrates, you thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I I use a hanna for phosphate im assuming it is pretty accurate.
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So this is the first for me. This time around When setting up the thank I made sure to have room for carbon gfo reactor. 6 months later I cant get a reading for phos or nitrate and this is a bit concerning. I have turned off the reactor and will continue to test regularly. What methods do you guys use for maintaining a very low nutrient level with out being completely void. Ive heard of people dosing nitrates, you thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I I use a hanna for phosphate im assuming it is pretty accurate.
Hey there Warhawk. The easiest “natural” way to control nutrients is probably growing macro algae. This requires room for a fuge though. Your reactor would be the “beast mode” version of nutrient export. Also, the more coral you have the more they will consume as well. I’ve had success in maintaining .06 PO4 & 10 NO3 by using plastic mesh filter socks and cleaning them every 2 days. This eliminates a lot of uneaten food. I feed pretty heavy, frozen and pellets, once a day. I also leave a small strip of nori in the tank clip. Only lasts about 30 minutes though. This tank has no fuge.
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Great advice. I’m running a fuge skimmer and filter socks. I have a half a 20 long tank filled with cheato. Moving forward I will only run the reactor if there is a nutrient issue. Should save a lot of money in the long run gfo is not cheap
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As long as you’re not feeding 4 times a day or anything, your fuge should handle the load easily. In my other system, a 40B with a 20L sump, I run a fuge opposite my light cycle and my PO4 stays around .04 and my NO3 stays at 5. I feed that tank twice daily. It’s never seen GFO.