Reef Discussion

[Danield]

Hi everyone.

I have a nano tank that's 5 months old and is doing well. I water test weekly and have good parameters although my alkalinity has fluctuated a bit recently which I have been controlling with seachem alk liquid. I run mostly LPS with some SPS

My tanks doing great and I use RO water but I continue to have what looks like a diatom bloom on the substrate and lower glass. I do 10% water changes weekly and try to vac up as much as I can. The tank is 80 litres and I run a good skimmer have good water flow and Ive been running Phosguard in a bag for a few months now with low pgos levels (0.03-0.05 ish). I have a birdsnest coral which looks healthy but is brown which I think might be due to high organics ??

The tank has 3 rear compartments (its a aqua medic blenny) the centre compartment is lower flow as the outlet from the skimmer passes into here through a media basket which I use carbon and floss to trap small particles.

I have just purchased a small media reactor to use in this centre sump instead of the media basket and have been scratching my head about what media to use.

Here are my options ( I think)
1. Run carbon and some phos guard (maybe sechem sea gel)

2. Run Purigen or purigen/carbon

3. Run Bio Pellets

Im concerned about bio pellets as my nitrates are not high (7 -10ppm usually) and Ive heard they can cause tank crashes through oxy obsorption etc

Really what I want is something to run to remove organic waste/control algae/diatom. (I know they are different things)
Can I run a mixture of media ???

Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

 

[holly]

I would go biopellets and start very slowly with them, and have your skimmer on 12 hours a day or less. What do you feed and how often? Also, what is your sand and do you stir it up once a week?

You may also want to look into running some macro somewhere in your back compartment to take up excess plant-like nutrients. There is a zeo product that people rave about which gets rid of cyano - can't remember the name.
Also be careful of running too much carbon - it strips the water of good stuff as well as 'bad'.

Your alk could be fluctuating for a number of reasons - how much and how often are you changing water? NSW/ASW?

 

[Danield]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I feed brine shrimp once daily. I use a quarter of one of the small pellets/peices you find in most pre packaged food. I have two clowns, an orchid dottyback and a cardinal

I did look at macro but that would mean I would have to light the sump right, My setup doesnt allow this as the sumps are basically exposed at the back. If you remember the name it would be greatly appreciated.
Would you suggest pellets over the basics like phos gurad etc. Ive heard many bad stories about people trying to run pellets with detrimental impacts on the tank. I think they may have been trying to run too much too fast but it worries me a little. The other question is will pellets help with algae, they look like they're primarily for nitrates etc but I accept there is an inter-realtion.

I never really considered you could run too much carbon but thanks for raising it. My media basket is basically full of carbon.

I added a clam recently and lost it a few weeks later, its the only issue I have had and im not sure if it was a parameter or being a bit heavy handed with the stress during water changes. Losing a $180 clam made me reconsider my tank husbandry a bit I will say.

I appreciate the help to date.

 

[holly]

Hi Daniel,

Your tank is fairly new and cyano tends to be a common thing in new tanks. Most people have luck just letting it grow then syphoning it out. Eventually it runs its course. I wouldn't stress about it. Running biopellets from the start is a good idea to prevent your rock absorbing a whole lot of phosphate. Just as long as you use 1/4 of the recommended amount of pellets and use the right flow through and out of the reactor. Troubles start when you have too many running off the bat. Bad stories are always due to knee jerk reactions and rushing things. Check out @vpreef's tank. He just runs a biopellet reactor and a calcium/magnesium reactor and skimmer with much success: http://www.thereefuge.com.au/threads/acro-losses-and-a-different-direction.9574/ and http://www.thereefuge.com.au/threads/few-pics-from-today.9590/

Here are a few experiences and different methods of getting rid of cyano.
http://www.thereefuge.com.au/threads/im-bored-lets-give-a-quick-update.7534/#post-110291
http://www.thereefuge.com.au/threads/new-additions.7699/#post-110707
http://www.thereefuge.com.au/threads/zeovit-user-thread.494/page-1#post-129963
http://www.thereefuge.com.au/threads/cyano-outbreak.9311/page-1#post-129039

 

[jayellul]

You can get some nice little HOB biopelle rectors to. What are the dimensions of the compartment?

You MUST have a highly efficient skimmer when using pellets also to pull out te excess bacteria you will be producing :)

As Holly said, start at 1/4 dose then add 1/4 dose at least a week apart AFTER testing N and P. Stop adding pellets as soon as they start to drop :)

Fwiw I am running like three times the recommended. It different for every tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Danield]

Thanks

The real issue I'm having is whether bio pellets are the best or should I just use phosban or similar. My main goal is to strip both phosphate and silicate from the water. What reactor media is best for this. Nitrate reduction is a bonus but it's definitely secondary to cutting phosphates and silicates.

 

[riley]

bio - pellets are better at this imo and are the cheaper option. the recommended amount should last u a very long time depending on nutrient levels. but like all carbon dosing has a few risks. but as long as u don't start/stop too fast and make sure they tumble ull be fine. bio pellets in combination with a good reactor is really set and forget for 3 months after the setup phase and all ull do is add some more and see u again in 3 months.

phosban carrys less risk. but at higher cost. the problem with phosban is u don't really know when to change it. so ur options is to test your water a lot....we all know how boring that is or what the lazy man(me) does wait til u get algae starting to form then change it out. i no longer use phosban.

7-10ppm nitrate ull be fine. but i would stop Phosguard as the Bactria need both phos and nitrate to reproduce. others mite have a different option