I need some advice about nutrients. I have a 1 year old 75 gallon FOWLR. Started with Caribsea dry rock & dry sand.
Filtration:
RO/DI Water with Red Sea salt
~ 10 gallon sump
PinkyFilter for mechanical filtration, changed every 5 days
Red Sea skimmer
HOB fuge with sea lettuce, but over ran with GHA. I will be cleaning out the fuge and adding Chaeto in a few weeks, but want to get phosphate down before then.
In the beginning I was more focused on QT my fish & CUC. Now I’m focusing on correct parameters before getting corals. My nitrates used to be above 75PPM. After 6 months of weekly 30 gallon water changes. My nitrates have gone down to 12.5PPM. I started carbon dosing with distilled vinegar 1.5 months ago. The carbon dosing has helped bring Nitrates down. I use Hanna HR nitrate for testing.
My phosphates are still high. Phosphates are 1PPM - 1.2PPM. The day after a water change my phosphate goes down to 0.84, but a few days later it’s back to 1.2PPM. I feed frozen PE Mysis, and Fish Frenzy. I rarely feed TDO pellets. I use Hanna ULR Phosphate for testing. I dilute my sample for phosphate 50/50 tank water & new saltwater. Then multiply by 2.
I barely turned on my T5s lights 3-4 weeks ago and brown algae has started to grow on the rocks. Is this the “ugly phase” ? Will I have to go through the ugly phase if I get my parameters corrected? Should I turn off the lights or ride it out because the ugly phase has to happen?
Should I use GFO or Biopellets? Which brand of GFO? I’m thinking BRS High Capacity GFO or RowaPhos. Do I need a reactor or is a media bag ok?
Filtration:
RO/DI Water with Red Sea salt
~ 10 gallon sump
PinkyFilter for mechanical filtration, changed every 5 days
Red Sea skimmer
HOB fuge with sea lettuce, but over ran with GHA. I will be cleaning out the fuge and adding Chaeto in a few weeks, but want to get phosphate down before then.
In the beginning I was more focused on QT my fish & CUC. Now I’m focusing on correct parameters before getting corals. My nitrates used to be above 75PPM. After 6 months of weekly 30 gallon water changes. My nitrates have gone down to 12.5PPM. I started carbon dosing with distilled vinegar 1.5 months ago. The carbon dosing has helped bring Nitrates down. I use Hanna HR nitrate for testing.
My phosphates are still high. Phosphates are 1PPM - 1.2PPM. The day after a water change my phosphate goes down to 0.84, but a few days later it’s back to 1.2PPM. I feed frozen PE Mysis, and Fish Frenzy. I rarely feed TDO pellets. I use Hanna ULR Phosphate for testing. I dilute my sample for phosphate 50/50 tank water & new saltwater. Then multiply by 2.
I barely turned on my T5s lights 3-4 weeks ago and brown algae has started to grow on the rocks. Is this the “ugly phase” ? Will I have to go through the ugly phase if I get my parameters corrected? Should I turn off the lights or ride it out because the ugly phase has to happen?
Should I use GFO or Biopellets? Which brand of GFO? I’m thinking BRS High Capacity GFO or RowaPhos. Do I need a reactor or is a media bag ok?