Kongar
Active Member
Hi all. I was hoping to get a discussion/tips/tricks going for my new Pax Bellum reactor.
- I'm dosing the nitrates as well as the iron supplement that came with the unit. It's remarkable at how good the chaeto is at removing waste. I'm also upping my feeding to the max my fish can eat (boy are they happy this week). But what about phosphates? I'm testing and watching, and I'm concerned the chaeto will strip phosphates out completely like it is doing with the nitrates. Do you guys dose phosphates as well? It's crazy to me to switch mentality - going from "stop putting nutrients in" to "feed heavier and dose to maintain nutrients"
- Cleaning - I see hair algae growing in there after a week. How crazy do you get with cleaning that out with each chaeto harvest? Should I be toothbrushing that stuff each week? It doesn't seem to be causing issues now, but...
- When I harvest the chaeto, some people recommend swishing it around in a bucket of tank water to clean it out. Do you do this? Does it disturb copepod and other helpful critters? Asked another way - should I be least disruptive with the chaeto, or should I be cleaning that stuff?
- What's the deal with the "slime" people complain about in their reactors? A lot of pictures look like dinos/cyano or something similar sludge starts growing in the reactor. Is that like an ugly phase for the new reactor thing, or is it avoidable? No sign of it yet - but it's only been a week.
- Similarly - what's the deal with the "white burnt" chaeto? It appears that's what the iron supplement is for? I know iron on my lawn makes it nice and green - not the same thing, but maybe similar?
- Do you use the pax bellum supplements or are there others that are better?
- Cleaning looks like it's going to be a bit of a hassle/pain. Any tips? I'm thinking I'm just going to take the inside to the sink and hit it with a toothbrush.
- Why does chaeto growth for many seem to start off great, then fizzle after a few weeks? Anything I should watch for/avoid?
- Do you try to dial in your chaeto light's ON time? Or do you just run it so you're definately taking out more nutrients than you're putting in, and then just dose the balance?
