Need Advise with a newer tank.

[mourningsage]

Hey Guys, should start by saying i have recently upgraded my tank to a Cade Reefer 1200
This is my first time having a full sump system aquarium previously running my tanks off canister filters

Having a few issues with the new tank i was hoping to get advise on, with the return pump i was running a Aqua One Moray 4900 (4800L/h)
When i was running this the tank seemed great in terms of water visual quality and particulates in the water were not visible and my filter socks would fill quickly.
The issue was the flow i dont have a lot of corals mainly some large hammers and torches duncans heliofungia and an elegance coral the outlet of the cade tank is only singular and the amount of flow coming out of it was extremely strong on that side of the tank and would create a large vortex across the front of my rocks. i tried moving the outlet to face different directions and the best i could do was aim it at the glass on one side and just move corals out of that vortex in the front.

recently i changed the return pump to the lower model 2200L/h version to see if i could move corals back to the front of the tank and now im noticing a lot of floating particulates and a film over the top of the water, i have increased the flow of my gyre pump to compensate but it just seems to circulate the waste rather than push it down the overflow.

Does anyone have any advise on what i could do for this, did i just go to low in my second option? is the 4900 to much flow for a 500-600l system or could i just change the nozzle to have multiple outlets in different directions.


Second problem is I'm finding that my phosphates are climbing rapidly
I've always had phosphate problems with my original tank before i moved things to this one but i was able to control it with media reactors and water changes.
currenly im using a 2 little fishies media reactor with aquaforest phosphate media which is working well. maybe to well at first.
what's happening is i am doing weekly water changes and media changes on the system to fight the growing phosphate level.
i test my phosphates and they go up to 0.3-0.5 so i do my weekly water change and change the media in the phosphate reactor, test 2 days after and the phosphate level is down to <0.1 but by the time it comes to monday for me to do the weekly testing and water change its back up to 0.3-0.5.
I feel like the swing in parameters is an issue and im looking for a way to smooth out the changes, is my media reactor to small? am i not putting enough in? is my protein skimmer not optimised? i feel like im doing something wrong and just wanted some advise on what to change.


Additional information
- when i changed to the new tank i used mostly the same rocks but i did add some more aquaforest pieces (the pink ones)
- the tank was running off canister filters for 2 years before this and it was an algae magnet with long bubble and hair algae
- i have recently(a week ago) set up a refugium in the tank but the macroalgae is still small and I'm running a kessil flora on it (15hours a day)
- i am using a hanna phosphate checker and salifert weekly to make sure my checker isnt wrong.


Thankyou for reading and hopefully can give me some clarity.

 

[aquatrack]

Hey @mourningsage, congrats on the Cade 1200 upgrade!

For the flow issues:

Going from the 4800L/h to the 2200L/h is a pretty drastic decrease, which would explain the film and floating particulates. The sweet spot is probably somewhere in between. You could try a few things:

1. Try a return pump in the 300-3500L/h range for better balance.

2. Keep your current 4900L/h pump but add a Y-splitter or manifold to create multiple outlets which should spread the flow out more evenly.

For the phosphate issue I have a few suggestions for you to try out:

1. Consider running the media in a mesh bag at first to slow down how quickly it absorbs phosphate.

2. Run your media reactor continuously but reduce the amount of media.

3. Check your feeding - overfeeding can be a primary source of phosphate issues.

4. Your old rock may be leaching phosphates. Maybe consider running carbon alongside your phosphate media to help with organics.

Your system is still finding its balance after the upgrade so give it time to mature and dial in your flow.

Good luck!