Should I use a reactor?

moseley75 · Jun 30, 2017

I checked my water yesterday and everything is good except nitrate is a little high and phosphates are quite high.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
Phosphate 0.16
Calcium 420
Magnesium 1340
Alkalinity 7.2
Salinity 1.026

I don't have an algae problem yet. I know I will probably get some GHA b/c this is a new tank. Chaeto is growing nicely and I have some Dragon's breath in the display that is also growing well. Hopefully GHA will be minimal. Ammonia and nitrite have been at 0 for just over a week now. Nitrate tends to rise from around 5 to about 10 between water changes.
This is a 20" cube so about 35 gal in the display and overflow, and another 14 in the sump for a total water volume of 39 gal. I think I should run carbon and GFO but my lfs said not to use GFO b/c of the size of this system. According to the BRS calculator I only need .25 cup of carbon. Can I run this small amount in a reactor? I like the smallest one at BRS.

moseley75 · Jun 30, 2017

Mal11224 · Jun 30, 2017

Good question. I think if your phosphates are low you definitely would not need gfo. All depends on your filter system. A reactor might be useful, but you may be able to get away with some activated carbon in a nylon bag or chemi bag.

ndrwater · Jul 1, 2017

In a new tank of your size I wouldn't do either. 5-10ppm Nitrate is absolutely fine. I agree that your Phosphate is a tad high, but with Chaeto and the dragons breath out competing any other algae, regular water changes are probably enough.
Don't try to chase numbers. Looks at your tank instead. Does it look happy? Inhabitants thriving? If so, let it ride.
There was a good article by Mike Palleta here about the "Masters" and where their numbers were. All across the board. What they all had in common was stability. Chasing a zero or close to zero with Nitrate and or Phosphate is asking for trouble unless you are running ULNS like Zeovit.
Regular water changes using high quality water (RODI) and a good quality salt, dosing the big two (or 3) if doing an SPS tank, should keep your tank happy and healthy.