Hey guys and girls...so its been forever since I posted on here...quick story. Sorry for the long post...if you think its too long please keep ur negative comments to urself, thank you. Trying to provide details to actually save from un needed questions.
I have a 90 gallon reef tank...its about 2 years old...I'd say overall I'v had good success with it. My fish have all flourished minus one or two compatibility issues in the past. Anyways...all my inverts have done mostly well...I have kept a blue linka for about a year and a half...fire shrimp...coco worm, although on just died recently that I had for a pretty good while. over a year. So here is my problem.
When I first got the tank I ran GFO...and a UV sterilizer...well I was trying to beat up on the nitrates so I abounded the GFO for a bio pellet reactor. While I used the GFO I had like zero algae problems...but it seemed my nitrates would rise about 5PPM a week or so. So I got the a proper size and properly dosed bio pellet reactor and it going. Its a reef octopus one I bought from BRS...I use BRS pellets...and I run it on just enough pressure to slights tumble from what I can see ALL the media. So its not IMO too much power or not enough, based on the videos I'v watched from ppl who own them. I also have the output bio pellet line right in front of the input of the protein skimmer pump...
I have had the reactor going about 9 months now or so...maybe longer...and the media has really not been used up at ALL! Its came down a tad but clearly its not being used like it should. I even used a bacterial booster at first and added drops in every so often with a water change! Nothing...the nitrates don't really seem to drop at all...they just don't rise as fast...maybe more pellets load?
So I have this...I assume brown algae now for about the past oooo I'd say year or slightly less. It started about 3 or 4 weeks after the GFO was removed. I assume my rocks are leaching phosphates...I use salferit phosphate test kit...and red sea for other stuff...and salferit nitrate kit. I'v tried diff kits with the same results. My phosphate is at zero. My nitrates seem to stay between 4 and I'd say 8 on the high end consistently. If I do a 30 gallon change every 2 weeks it pulls them down about 5ish...do give you an idea. I feel like I have to do a rather large water change to make a dint as well.
I run 2 sicce voyager 1400 GPH pumps so I feel like my flow is good...I blow of my rocks when I can...not every day...but at least once every 2 weeks when I do a water change. I will say that I can blow off a rock 1 day...come back to that rocks and there is sediment flying all over the next day as if I never really blew it off much. With the power heads...my tank is kinda like a cube...AND 24" tall...so I have the 2 power heads on the back sides of the glass and pointing slightly downward...so I don't know if that maybe hurts me and pushes the sentiment down when I blow it off the rocks...
I also run a 18watt emperor aquatics UV sterilizer about 9 hours a day...I have a ICE CAP coral vue sump, and skimmer...my skin mate is a nice thick dark brown color...so I feel that's a plus. I feed frozen foods, once a day...I don't feel I really over fed...I have 7 fish...all small the biggest one being a tomini tang.
I feel that my rock is leaching phosphates...it was bought from a buddy of mine when I first got the tank...I used about half of it to do my tank and the rest I bought from a LFS. I guess my question is...will the rock ever stop leaching phosphates...and if so can this take a couple of years? And should I start to run GFO again...and WHY is the bio pellets not being effective after all this time as well? My corals seem to have good color and polyp extension...but they don't grow very fast. I have a group of purple mushrooms that grows pretty decent...a hammer that barely grows, good color...a Duncan that does very well and grows nicely...some glove polyps that do well...and modern coral that does awesome! A alien eye chalice that does well and grows slowly...
All my corals have good colors, I have SPS LPS and softies...they just grow so slowly...I feed aqua vitro fuel...and reef chili sometimes which they love...but it seems to not make a big difference.
As far as lighting...I run 2 kessil 360 tuna blues...I cant remember exactly, there on a 10 hour day cycle...I think...first 2 hours is like 10%, then 35 maybe...and I know the two middle cycles for peak are 55% and 70% I believe and it backs down...on a controller from Kessil...I don't think its the lighting...I do grow coralline algae...on the back glass and other places...but bc of my canopy my lights I think sit lower than they should so the coralline only travels like mid way up my glass and wont grow beyond that, my lights sit to low I believe.
I have a 90 gallon reef tank...its about 2 years old...I'd say overall I'v had good success with it. My fish have all flourished minus one or two compatibility issues in the past. Anyways...all my inverts have done mostly well...I have kept a blue linka for about a year and a half...fire shrimp...coco worm, although on just died recently that I had for a pretty good while. over a year. So here is my problem.
When I first got the tank I ran GFO...and a UV sterilizer...well I was trying to beat up on the nitrates so I abounded the GFO for a bio pellet reactor. While I used the GFO I had like zero algae problems...but it seemed my nitrates would rise about 5PPM a week or so. So I got the a proper size and properly dosed bio pellet reactor and it going. Its a reef octopus one I bought from BRS...I use BRS pellets...and I run it on just enough pressure to slights tumble from what I can see ALL the media. So its not IMO too much power or not enough, based on the videos I'v watched from ppl who own them. I also have the output bio pellet line right in front of the input of the protein skimmer pump...
I have had the reactor going about 9 months now or so...maybe longer...and the media has really not been used up at ALL! Its came down a tad but clearly its not being used like it should. I even used a bacterial booster at first and added drops in every so often with a water change! Nothing...the nitrates don't really seem to drop at all...they just don't rise as fast...maybe more pellets load?
So I have this...I assume brown algae now for about the past oooo I'd say year or slightly less. It started about 3 or 4 weeks after the GFO was removed. I assume my rocks are leaching phosphates...I use salferit phosphate test kit...and red sea for other stuff...and salferit nitrate kit. I'v tried diff kits with the same results. My phosphate is at zero. My nitrates seem to stay between 4 and I'd say 8 on the high end consistently. If I do a 30 gallon change every 2 weeks it pulls them down about 5ish...do give you an idea. I feel like I have to do a rather large water change to make a dint as well.
I run 2 sicce voyager 1400 GPH pumps so I feel like my flow is good...I blow of my rocks when I can...not every day...but at least once every 2 weeks when I do a water change. I will say that I can blow off a rock 1 day...come back to that rocks and there is sediment flying all over the next day as if I never really blew it off much. With the power heads...my tank is kinda like a cube...AND 24" tall...so I have the 2 power heads on the back sides of the glass and pointing slightly downward...so I don't know if that maybe hurts me and pushes the sentiment down when I blow it off the rocks...
I also run a 18watt emperor aquatics UV sterilizer about 9 hours a day...I have a ICE CAP coral vue sump, and skimmer...my skin mate is a nice thick dark brown color...so I feel that's a plus. I feed frozen foods, once a day...I don't feel I really over fed...I have 7 fish...all small the biggest one being a tomini tang.
I feel that my rock is leaching phosphates...it was bought from a buddy of mine when I first got the tank...I used about half of it to do my tank and the rest I bought from a LFS. I guess my question is...will the rock ever stop leaching phosphates...and if so can this take a couple of years? And should I start to run GFO again...and WHY is the bio pellets not being effective after all this time as well? My corals seem to have good color and polyp extension...but they don't grow very fast. I have a group of purple mushrooms that grows pretty decent...a hammer that barely grows, good color...a Duncan that does very well and grows nicely...some glove polyps that do well...and modern coral that does awesome! A alien eye chalice that does well and grows slowly...
All my corals have good colors, I have SPS LPS and softies...they just grow so slowly...I feed aqua vitro fuel...and reef chili sometimes which they love...but it seems to not make a big difference.
As far as lighting...I run 2 kessil 360 tuna blues...I cant remember exactly, there on a 10 hour day cycle...I think...first 2 hours is like 10%, then 35 maybe...and I know the two middle cycles for peak are 55% and 70% I believe and it backs down...on a controller from Kessil...I don't think its the lighting...I do grow coralline algae...on the back glass and other places...but bc of my canopy my lights I think sit lower than they should so the coralline only travels like mid way up my glass and wont grow beyond that, my lights sit to low I believe.
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