Hey all!
Just stopping by to document progress on a new nitrate reactor in my 25 gallon.
Day 1-noticed nitrates had risen to 50. Ive been feeding a little heavier to get some bleached corals up to par and I had a bi-color blenny that tipped the scales for being "overstocked". I did rehome the blenny in my 20 gallon. After about a month of getting nowhere with water changes I finally decided to buy Marine Biosystems F5 nitrate reactor. I put in the polymer pellets for nitrate/phos reduction (I cant tell you which brand because I forgot :( )
When I installed the reactor I noticed that the pellets got clumpy and didnt want to spin. It did this until day 3 ish. I also dosed dr tims bacteria per the LFS to get the colony started inside the reactor.
Day 7-after testing nitrates daily, and keeping my 4-5 gal/week water change schedule the same, I finally noticed a small drop in nitrates. I use salifert and instead of a 50, its a little more than 25.
Ill keep everyone updated. I dont like that I have to use the reactor but I have a clown, orchid dottyback, and a 6 line (all about 3") and theyre perfect for the tank so I dont want to get rid of any of them. Im also heavily stocked with zoas, palys, acans, a hammer, random other LPS, and 2 sps so I feed heavily 1-2x per week.
Anyone have experience using a reactor on a nano reef?
Just stopping by to document progress on a new nitrate reactor in my 25 gallon.
Day 1-noticed nitrates had risen to 50. Ive been feeding a little heavier to get some bleached corals up to par and I had a bi-color blenny that tipped the scales for being "overstocked". I did rehome the blenny in my 20 gallon. After about a month of getting nowhere with water changes I finally decided to buy Marine Biosystems F5 nitrate reactor. I put in the polymer pellets for nitrate/phos reduction (I cant tell you which brand because I forgot :( )
When I installed the reactor I noticed that the pellets got clumpy and didnt want to spin. It did this until day 3 ish. I also dosed dr tims bacteria per the LFS to get the colony started inside the reactor.
Day 7-after testing nitrates daily, and keeping my 4-5 gal/week water change schedule the same, I finally noticed a small drop in nitrates. I use salifert and instead of a 50, its a little more than 25.
Ill keep everyone updated. I dont like that I have to use the reactor but I have a clown, orchid dottyback, and a 6 line (all about 3") and theyre perfect for the tank so I dont want to get rid of any of them. Im also heavily stocked with zoas, palys, acans, a hammer, random other LPS, and 2 sps so I feed heavily 1-2x per week.
Anyone have experience using a reactor on a nano reef?
