Algae scrubber with GFO and biopellets

[gcarcher59]

Hello reefers. I have a small bio pellet reactor and GFO today. Haven't been too happy with algae buildup on the glass every few days so I invested in an algae scrubber. Do I keep everything in place and fire up the scrubber or should I pull the old stuff out and just rely on the scrubber for Po4 and No3 reduction? Thanks for the advice.

 

[CasperOe]

If all of this is required to keep your nutrient levels in check, you might need to have a good look at what- and how much nutrition you add to the tank in the first place! :) The issue doesn't come from nowhere and is not likely to be solved until the source is addressed.

Out of curiosity:
- How old is the tank?
- How much do you feed?
- What's your livestock?
- What are your NO3 / PO4 levels?
- How often- and how much water do you change?

If you want to change things around, give the scrupper a go. You really shouldn't need all three I would pull out the reactor and also the GFO. I like refugiums and algae scrubbers - they are fantastic if used correctly.

 

[gcarcher59]

If all of this is required to keep your nutrient levels in check, you might need to have a good look at what- and how much nutrition you add to the tank in the first place! :) The issue doesn't come from nowhere and is not likely to be solved until the source is addressed.

Out of curiosity:
- How old is the tank?
- How much do you feed?
- What's your livestock?
- What are your NO3 / PO4 levels?
- How often- and how much water do you change?

If you want to change things around, give the scrupper a go. You really shouldn't need all three I would pull out the reactor and also the GFO. I like refugiums and algae scrubbers - they are fantastic if used correctly.

Thanks for your reply. The tank will be 2 years old next month. I feed 2 cubes for Harkari frozen in the morning and at night. I uploaded a video, I have a full tank. Blonde naso 5 inches. Sailfin 4 inches, purple tang 3 inches yellow eye 3 inches. Flame hawk, 2 royal gammas, 2 fire fish, 1 Mondrian gobie large, 3 large skunk cleaners, 2 large fire shrimp, 2 banded stars. 1 large Japanese male swallow tail, 1 medium female swallow tail. And a bunch of coral. No3 used to be below 10 and Po4 is usually below .2.with the reactor running. I do a 20% change every week or two. The algae reactor is on the way, I was more curious if it need to co exist with the pellets and GFO. I would love to shut the other two down right away but don't want to mess the balance up. The corals are doing good, even some of my cup corals.

 

[gcarcher59]

Thanks for your reply. The tank will be 2 years old next month. I feed 2 cubes for Harkari frozen in the morning and at night. I uploaded a video, I have a full tank. Blonde naso 5 inches. Sailfin 4 inches, purple tang 3 inches yellow eye 3 inches. Flame hawk, 2 royal gammas, 2 fire fish, 1 Mondrian gobie large, 3 large skunk cleaners, 2 large fire shrimp, 2 banded stars. 1 large Japanese male swallow tail, 1 medium female swallow tail. And a bunch of coral. No3 used to be below 10 and Po4 is usually below .2.with the reactor running. I do a 20% change every week or two. The algae reactor is on the way, I was more curious if it need to co exist with the pellets and GFO. I would love to shut the other two down right away but don't want to mess the balance up. The corals are doing good, even some of my cup corals.

I also feed 2 small sheets of nori with the frozen. It's all gone in 30 seconds

 

[CasperOe]

If you have an issue with export of nutrients you need to consider what you put in the tank. It doesn't just appear out of thin air :) Flinging money at it left and right with shiny equipment is one way to go- but cheaper and better is it to actually solve the issue.

Have you tried testing your source water NO3 / PO4 levels? :) In my opinion, based on above you are not overfeeding, but something is not right- that's for sure!

I will suggest one thing though; be religious with your water changes. Don't just do them sometimes; do them every time. 10% every week over a sustained period of time is much better than 20% here and there.

 

[gcarcher59]

If you have an issue with export of nutrients you need to consider what you put in the tank. It doesn't just appear out of thin air :) Flinging money at it left and right with shiny equipment is one way to go- but cheaper and better is it to actually solve the issue.

Have you tried testing your source water NO3 / PO4 levels? :) In my opinion, based on above you are not overfeeding, but something is not right- that's for sure!

I will suggest one thing though; be religious with your water changes. Don't just do them sometimes; do them every time. 10% every week over a sustained period of time is much better than 20% here and there.

I test a lot. The nitrates stay below 30 so that's what I am working on lowering. I added two Sicce stream pumps inside to mix up the water, my guess is my tank is a corner tank and the rocks stacked back, the lower bottom of the tank has a lot of fish crap that has probably built up over time.

 

[CasperOe]

I test a lot. The nitrates stay below 30 so that's what I am working on lowering. I added two Sicce stream pumps inside to mix up the water, my guess is my tank is a corner tank and the rocks stacked back, the lower bottom of the tank has a lot of fish crap that has probably built up over time.

I will stick with my suggestion of being religious with your water changes. Don't just do them sometimes; do them every time. 10% every week over a sustained period of time is much better than 20% here and there.

Have you tested your source water before doing your water changes? What is the NO3/PO4 levels before you put the water in the tank?

 

[gcarcher59]

I will stick with my suggestion of being religious with your water changes. Don't just do them sometimes; do them every time. 10% every week over a sustained period of time is much better than 20% here and there.

Have you tested your source water before doing your water changes? What is the NO3/PO4 levels before you put the water in the tank?

 

[Uncle99]

I test a lot. The nitrates stay below 30 so that's what I am working on lowering. I added two Sicce stream pumps inside to mix up the water, my guess is my tank is a corner tank and the rocks stacked back, the lower bottom of the tank has a lot of fish crap that has probably built up over time.

30’s not terrible.
The issue is are they rising week to week even with normal maintenance and foods addition?

If yes, ok you’ll need to export something more to stabilize your nutrient levels.

If no, I’d just do nothing.

 

[gcarcher59]

Yeah good point. My waters tested before it goes in. I keep an eye on that but it's easy to miss if the RO is not working right.

 

[gcarcher59]

Yeah good point. My waters tested before it goes in. I keep an eye on that but it's easy to miss if the RO is not working right.

thanks for the support all!

 

[CasperOe]

Yeah good point. My waters tested before it goes in. I keep an eye on that but it's easy to miss if the RO is not working right.

So what are the parameters of your source water? :) This might be where the problem lies.. "I test a lot" and "i have tested it" is not very helpful.

Needless to say, it is something you add to the tank someway or another :) It doesn't just appear so it's about finding the source.. Your fish are fairly large, they do produce a good bit of waste too; so it might be a combination of a number of things.

Do a handful of large water changes (20-30%) to get your nutrients levels down where you want them to be- and maintain with weekly 10% water changes every week for the foreseeable future.

 

[CasperOe]

Oh, and out of curiosity :)

Which test kits are you using? Chances are it might be wrong; some of them are very hard to read.

It might be worth trying a different one to compare- or even send in an ICP test just to be on the safe side!

 

[gcarcher59]

Oh, and out of curiosity :)

Which test kits are you using? Chances are it might be wrong; some of them are very hard to read.

It might be worth trying a different one to compare- or even send in an ICP test just to be on the safe side!

Oh, and out of curiosity :)

Which test kits are you using? Chances are it might be wrong; some of them are very hard to read.

It might be worth trying a different one to compare- or even send in an ICP test just to be on the safe side!

I use both sailfert and Hanna. Hanna for phosphate and nitrate and sailfert for all others. I forgot a few fish, 4 medium clowns and a filefish. I'll double check the RO today.

 

[gcarcher59]

From today