BRS Dual media reactor for Diatoms & hair algae in newer system?

JGTPA

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Hey everyone! I’m looking for some advice on my 3 month old 100g. There has been a big bloom of brown algae/diatoms for the past 2 weeks & now I’m seeing fast growth of hair algae. I understand that this is common in newer systems & will likely resolve itself with time & routine maintenance. My phosphates test zero, nitrates test on the lowest range, & there’s zero ammonia. My skimmer has been running & I’ve been physically removing the hair algae along with weekly water changes (using RODI).
My question is... is it worth adding a media reactor for GFO & carbon or better to just ride it out? I was thinking of purchasing the dual reactor from BRS.
Thanks in advance for any insight & advice!
 

LAX Noob Reef

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No, not yet. 3 Month old, best you can add is more rocks, or better yet space saving "bio media." Diatom are come and go, once you have enough bio filter, it'll take care of it + skimmer first. For hair, just get some tang and CUC.
 

InvaderJim

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Your phosphates are likely testing zero because of the hair algae and others consuming them. With a tank that new I would definitely not run GFO yet because you run a risk of giving yourself dino's from lack of nutrients which is WAY worse than some diatoms and hair algae.

Just let the tank do it's thing and get a tang or some more CUC like stated above.
 
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JGTPA

JGTPA

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No, not yet. 3 Month old, best you can add is more rocks, or better yet space saving "bio media." Diatom are come and go, once you have enough bio filter, it'll take care of it + skimmer first. For hair, just get some tang and CUC.
 
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JGTPA

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Thank you all! That’s what I thought but I’m just getting back into the hobby after a long break. This forum has been a great resource to get my feet wet again.
 

DKPminus

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if you can do so, keeping your lights off or at least lowering/ limiting lighting should slow growth. Algae needs light, bacteria doesn’t. I am 4 months into a 225g and have avoided the ugly brown stage thus far. I kept lights off while cycling and on at a minimal for a while when starting to add fish.
 

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