Purigen versus Chemipure elite - Which, neither, another option for skimmerless filtration?

[Narideth]

Howdy all!

I'm working with my evo 13.5, and starting to see some nuisance algae that I want to stay on top of. I don't want to install a skimmer, and I know that most folk who go skimmerless on this tank need a little help in keeping things balanced in the form of chemical filtration. Most posts that I've read through seem to lean towards Chemipure Elite, however I just need some kind of slow reacting nutrient export to help keep my nitrates a bit lower. They're not even terribly high now, around 20 ppm and that's probably because I'm doing some target feeding every week or so for corals and RFA. RO/DI water changes periodically, and all of the other parameters are right around where I'd expect them to be.

The tank is nearing its third month, and is stocked with 2 half grown clowns, and a handful of astrea snails and blue legged hermits as well as the RFAs and several corals. Everyone's looking healthy and happy, so I don't want to suck the nutrients completely out, just give the CUC a hand in keeping the algae under control. I'd considered attempting a refugium in the second chamber, but I'm running out of outlets to power another light for it. I'd read that Purigen works for nitrates, and since my phos isn't high, would that be better? Right now my 'filtration' is mostly the rocks/sand and a small bag of filter media + a large particle filter pad that I clean/change out every few days. I'm going to be adding additional biological filtration media, so ultimately the question is, what other kind would I need? I've never used chemical filtration that didn't come as simple pre-made filters with carbon for freshwater HOB, and it's been a few years since I even used those. (I'm a sponge filter BELIEVER) I'd love some input for those who have used these products.

Alternatively, do I need to beef up/alter my CUC? Five astrea snails, 3 nassarius snails and 4 hermits feels like a lot already, and I resist the urge to clean the short side of the tank to make sure they have plenty of surface area to skim over. (Maybe I should in fact clean this to herd them towards the rocks) I do have an extra blue tuxedo urchin I could add, a small one at that, but he's busy chomping turf algae in a different tank. Give me your thoughts, experience and opinions!

 

[nothing_fancy]

Chemipure Blue would be a good choice IMO. If you're looking for nutrient export, I think your idea of a DIY fuge is a good one. Chaeto will pull nitrates very well depending on the size of the ball and too well if you let it grow a lot without trimming. You'll find a size that works well for you. Your high nitrates may also go down in time as this tank is very new. I wouldn't let outlets limit you in whatever gear you want to use. That being said, The IM Chaetomax works great for this sort of thing and only requires that you cut out a window for it behind your AIO. So long as you're getting decent flow through the chamber this would be easy and would most likely bring your nitrates down to the level you'd like to manage it at.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

What type of rock have you used? It’s a pretty new system so continued water changes and diligent detritus removal might be safest option, particularly if your algae issue isn’t too bad. If it’s just the usual pioneering species you don’t want to completely eliminate a minor issue to potentially create a major issue.

 

[Narideth]

What type of rock have you used? It’s a pretty new system so continued water changes and diligent detritus removal might be safest option, particularly if your algae issue isn’t too bad. If it’s just the usual pioneering species you don’t want to completely eliminate a minor issue to potentially create a major issue.

That's about where I'm standing, that I don't want to create a new problem, but... maybe guide the direction of this one before it becomes something tedious. Small steps just to keep on top of things. The tank is quite new, I know it will eventually balance out so long as I keep the nutrients going in at a manageable level, I just want to also somewhat manage the new tank problems that will crop up between now and then.

I started the system with dry rock, but I'm wary of algae due to the problem I'm having in the other marine tank I'm running, where the turf algae has gotten completely out of control. That tank is a year and a half old. I don't believe that I treated it correctly as the problem it was, and now I'm on the slow resolution path to sort out the imbalance. (My local fish store's fake ro/di water didn't help at all. 200 TDS after filtering. Hah!)

I do eventually figure I'll need to apply something to help with nutrient export, and I'm one of those over-planning sorts. I'd like it to at least be lined up.

I think your idea of a DIY fuge is a good one. Chaeto will pull nitrates very well depending on the size of the ball and too well if you let it grow a lot without trimming. You'll find a size that works well for you.

A fuge was something that interested me from the very beginning. The fact that some people have managed this in the existing AIO chambers in the evo made me very curious about experimenting with it, but I also don't want to create a problem with, let's say escaping macroalgae taking root in the display tank, etc.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Got a picture of the tank? Dry rock starts are like eating spaghetti bolognaise in a white tshirt. Always looks worse than it is.

 

[Narideth]

It's the tank in my build thread, but I can get a fresh picture for this purpose. I'm not at all concerned about the green and brown covering the rock, it's the hair algae that's starting to tease its way into hanging threads at the corners and grow over the sand. I got into the tank yesterday and sort of hand scrubbed and turned over the sand with a good water change after as well as a fresh filter pad to get out as much of the debris as possible. I still think the tank looks awesome, I just want to keep it looking that way with a good maintenance and filtering plan.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Looks good, nice and clean. Snails seem to be making an impact. I wouldn’t be overly concerned. I’m wary of Chemipure Elite in small tanks, particularly newish systems.

 

[nothing_fancy]

That's about where I'm standing, that I don't want to create a new problem, but... maybe guide the direction of this one before it becomes something tedious. Small steps just to keep on top of things. The tank is quite new, I know it will eventually balance out so long as I keep the nutrients going in at a manageable level, I just want to also somewhat manage the new tank problems that will crop up between now and then.

I started the system with dry rock, but I'm wary of algae due to the problem I'm having in the other marine tank I'm running, where the turf algae has gotten completely out of control. That tank is a year and a half old. I don't believe that I treated it correctly as the problem it was, and now I'm on the slow resolution path to sort out the imbalance. (My local fish store's fake ro/di water didn't help at all. 200 TDS after filtering. Hah!)

I do eventually figure I'll need to apply something to help with nutrient export, and I'm one of those over-planning sorts. I'd like it to at least be lined up.



A fuge was something that interested me from the very beginning. The fact that some people have managed this in the existing AIO chambers in the evo made me very curious about experimenting with it, but I also don't want to create a problem with, let's say escaping macroalgae taking root in the display tank, etc.

Tank looks great! I personally I don't think you'll have a problem with Chaetomorphic algae getting out of the AIO chamber, the only thing to look out for is getting something between the chaeto and your return pump, like filterfloss. But if you're interested, you can check out an external macro algae reactor, some of the ones for sale might be a bit overkill for that tank but you can make one yourself pretty cheaply using a basic reactor chamber, and LED flexible strip light, timer, and an air pump. Could be fun. good luck!