Advice on nitrates and phosphates

AlwaysSalty

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So my nitrates are at 40(salifert) and phosphates at .8(Hanna). Also have what I assume is cyano.
Question is now do I add a bio pellet reactor, dose with phosphate remover and vibrant and or add Uv sterilizer? Or something else?
Tank is 9 months old. 120 gallon with refugium growing chaeto.
sal 1.025
Ammonia nitrite 0
Alk 8.7
Calcium 500
Mag 1226
 

Bfragale

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There are many ways to accomplish what you’re trying to do. If you go they online threads your will find many many different approaches.
Personally if it was me I would reduce feeding a bit and see if you can start to see it trend down.
I run alittle GFO, and a refugium - this has helped me keep no4 and po4 in check.

not sure if vibrant helps for that. I’ve used it in the past for algae issues. Worked but took a few months.
Personally I have about 15-20 no3 and about .4 po4. So far Tank seems to love it at these parameters. But some say it’s too high. But works for me.

good luck and happy reefing.
7BD9DC56-7057-4130-B55E-3E1CD40CB40F.jpeg
 
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AlwaysSalty

AlwaysSalty

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There are many ways to accomplish what you’re trying to do. If you go they online threads your will find many many different approaches.
Personally if it was me I would reduce feeding a bit and see if you can start to see it trend down.
I run alittle GFO, and a refugium - this has helped me keep no4 and po4 in check.

not sure if vibrant helps for that. I’ve used it in the past for algae issues. Worked but took a few months.
Personally I have about 15-20 no3 and about .4 po4. So far Tank seems to love it at these parameters. But some say it’s too high. But works for me.

good luck and happy reefing.
7BD9DC56-7057-4130-B55E-3E1CD40CB40F.jpeg
Yeah I’m not looking for perfection on levels either. just want to get them down to get my corals growing and rid the cyano.
 

Bfragale

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Just for for thought- some of the new research I’ve been seeing regarding cyanos is that po4 and no3 are less important then we previously thought. It’s a bacteria and yes it consumes the nutrients- but more recent research seems to show that it’s more of a bio diversity issue then A nutrient issue.
I’m no expert and cannot confirm this- but just food for thought.
 
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AlwaysSalty

AlwaysSalty

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admittedly I am bad with water changes be it I work 80 hours a week lol. I’ve been told some don’t do water changes at all and just dose. I will try to step that up and run the refuge lights longer.
 

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I’ve considered a nano powerhead in the sump to keep the detritus from building
So I put a wavemaker in my cheato area and that had helped alot, I also cleaned alot of detritus from my sump and the levels of no3/po4 went down. Also I started using filter socks again and I empty those alot because I have a sand sifting diamond goby. So yes add a pump to increase flow or maybe run filter socks once you clean the sump up. My mp40s also kick my sand bed up so I have alot of sand/detritus in my sump usually without filter socks. Every tank is different. Start with actions that don't require money like a water change and sump cleaning. See what that does in a day or two. If nothing happens you have a cleaner looking sump. Good luck, hope you can get it under control, I would go with carbon dosing if nothing happens from the cleaning.
 

ATAquariums

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Not 100%. I feed the fish mysis and brine once a day. I also have an eel.
I’m assuming the eel gets feed everyday? You’ll probably benefit from running bio pellets and a larger skimmer. Eels are dirty. I’d also cut down on how much is Feed to the other fish as well
 
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I’m assuming the eel gets feed everyday? You’ll probably benefit from running bio pellets and a larger skimmer. Eels are dirty. I’d also cut down on how much is Feed to the other fish as well
Yes I’ve heard they’re dirty as well lol. No he gets fed 3-4x a week. I have a reef octopus 150 skimmer.
 
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AlwaysSalty

AlwaysSalty

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So I put a wavemaker in my cheato area and that had helped alot, I also cleaned alot of detritus from my sump and the levels of no3/po4 went down. Also I started using filter socks again and I empty those alot because I have a sand sifting diamond goby. So yes add a pump to increase flow or maybe run filter socks once you clean the sump up. My mp40s also kick my sand bed up so I have alot of sand/detritus in my sump usually without filter socks. Every tank is different. Start with actions that don't require money like a water change and sump cleaning. See what that does in a day or two. If nothing happens you have a cleaner looking sump. Good luck, hope you can get it under control, I would go with carbon dosing if nothing happens from the cleaning.
I definitely agree with you not needing to spend money if I don’t have to. I will put a wave maker in the sump. I see the sump I have is prone to detritus buildup. I do run a 7” filter sock and a sandsifter as well but will have to swap out socks more frequently. Thanks for the advice and info! Really appreciate it
 

EuphylliaAddict

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I definitely agree with you not needing to spend money if I don’t have to. I will put a wave maker in the sump. I see the sump I have is prone to detritus buildup. I do run a 7” filter sock and a sandsifter as well but will have to swap out socks more frequently. Thanks for the advice and info! Really appreciate it
I'm no expert but this did help me, I am replacing socks almost daily but I'm glad I have like 20 of them around. It is a pain kind of but if you don't let it get behind you'll have a better looking sump and lower decaying matter. I went lazy reefer for a few months and I had like an inch or so of sand/detritus in my sump. Now i use the jebao 20w or something it's a smaller one, I have the cheato tumbling and it's been growing in a tighter ball and alot better color from it. I watched a few youtube videos on lowering nutrients, had the wavemaker laying around also so that helped. Good luck, I bet your nutrients come down in no time. Since we're kinda in the same situation of a goby making the sand go into the sump, I would definitely run socks even though it really is a pain, but if that's all it takes then really why wouldn't we just change them and clean a bunch at once. I use the ones my waterbox came with and waterbox also sent me like a lifetime supply because they're a great company. Anyway I hope it helps, please update me on the situation.
 

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