I purchased a used reef tank almost a year ago, so live sand/rock were reused as well as water. The tank is a red sea reefer 350 (73 gal with 18 gal sump), I currently keep a pair of clownfish, midas blenny, one firefish goby, a small purple tang, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2 RBTAs, and some SPS corals. Since acquiring the tank, I was using red sea salt mix (blue bucket), and water parameters have been stable all this time with nitrates reading 10ppm and phosphates anywhere 0.10 to 0.15. Given that I have some SPS, I had been working on reducing my phos levels so about 1 month ago, I decided to add rowaphos in a media bag which I placed in the sump. I also switched to reef crystals (orange bucket) at that same time. A week ago during a water change, I noticed my nitrate was at 5ppm and noted some clear thick mucus in the sump that had clogged my filter socks. I didn't think much of it until now. I did a water change yesterday, and today my filter socks are clogged with clear mucus again, which is now starting to show up in my main tank. In researching previous posts, it looks like a bacterial bloom that happens when a tank is nutrient deficient after carbon dosing. I have not treated the tank with any chemicals other than adding the rowaphos 1 month ago, changing sea salt brands, and I also keep activated carbon in a media bag in the sump.
Could any of these changes have contributed to the sudden drop in nutrients and mucus bloom? I would appreciate any recs. Should I remove carbon/GFO? I have changed the position of the return T-pipes to increase water surface aeration and increased feedings. I plan to reduce my water change schedule which was 10% every week.
Current parameters:
Temp:76-77.5
pH=8.0
Nitrate=0
Phosphate=0
dKH=8.2
Could any of these changes have contributed to the sudden drop in nutrients and mucus bloom? I would appreciate any recs. Should I remove carbon/GFO? I have changed the position of the return T-pipes to increase water surface aeration and increased feedings. I plan to reduce my water change schedule which was 10% every week.
Current parameters:
Temp:76-77.5
pH=8.0
Nitrate=0
Phosphate=0
dKH=8.2