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I have used 6 T-5's for nearly the whole life of the tank. And I recently changed to 50 3w Cree LED's. Its a 90 gal tank.

My Mag does drop on occasion but I keep it in check with a BRS Mix.

Yep, it works great.

If it was mag alkalinity would probably be lower. I'd get a piece of live rock from a friend. There are allot of different types of coraline. Purple up does not contain coraline seed. All it does is promote proper alk and cal levels.

What kind of lighting? I don't W/C nearly as often as you, have similar water params, and coralline is almost at nuisance levels in my tank with good SPS quality LEDs.

it may be a mag problem.

You can dose a product called "Purple Up". When I started my tank I dosed it religiously for 8 months. Now I add once a week.

You need some way to constantly remove nitrate (and phosphate). I never tried pellets or Vodka, but an algae scubber did the trick for me. Though I should mention that I never had nitrate problems, just bad nusance algae for years. My display looked like a refugium at times.

No, I don't use GFO at all. So far, the pellets have kept NO3 and PO4 at zero. Loving that.

So you guys who are running bio-pellets... are you also running gfo for phosphates?

Ok cool, I'll try that I have never heard of dosing this to get rid of cyano, learn something new everyday! Does it matter that my tank is pretty established, going on 2 years now.

Originally Posted by MrReefAddict

So you guys think I should go for a biopellet reactor instead of a Denitrator? How often are you changing the media. I guess you just change portions of it.


Agsanoo, so you when you say carbon dosing you are saying biopellets, right? And with the bacteria, do you mean starting the biopellets by seeding it with something like ZEObak - Korallen-Zucht?

IMO I would go with bio-pellets, way easier. You don't have to replace them, they get absorbed over time. I add new Warner Marine EcoBak-pellets about every 6 months to my reactor. As to your second question, yes bio-pellets are a solid carbon source. And no, start dosing bacteria (Brightwell MB7 or zeobak) first, then add the bio-pellets after the cyano is gone. Carbon dosing will just feed the cyano.

My nitrates are not sky high but in the 10-20 range.

Originally Posted by melev

I've used multiple products to reduce nitrate. Algone, AZNO3, water changes, vodka, DSB, lots of live rock, heavy skimming... Vodka worked for me but it took a long time to reach the correct dose that made them plummet.

With my new tank, I'm using biopellets (Vertex) in a NextReef reactor. So far, it has only been 3 months but PO4 and NO3 are staying down at 0. I feed multiple times a day, but they are smaller portions.

Melev, did you have a algal bloom with the biopellets? So people notice the water go cloudy white. So you guys think I should go for a biopellet reactor instead of a Denitrator? How often are you changing the media. I guess you just change portions of it.


Agsanoo, so you when you say carbon dosing you are saying biopellets, right? And with the bacteria, do you mean starting the biopellets by seeding it with something like ZEObak - Korallen-Zucht?

I've used multiple products to reduce nitrate. Algone, AZNO3, water changes, vodka, DSB, lots of live rock, heavy skimming... Vodka worked for me but it took a long time to reach the correct dose that made them plummet.

With my new tank, I'm using biopellets (Vertex) in a NextReef reactor. So far, it has only been 3 months but PO4 and NO3 are staying down at 0. I feed multiple times a day, but they are smaller portions.

Originally Posted by MrReefAddict

I have a 90 gallon AGA, 50 gal sump 10 remote fuge with cheato, 20L frag tank. I am running a Dual BRS reactors with carbon and GFO. Total water volume is 150 gallons.


I am in the process of having a huge cyano outbreak in my frag tank and just the frag tank. I just set it up about 2 months ago.

I fought high nitrates for over 3 years. The WM pellets is what finally worked for me. It is a long process, but I've heard the slow way is usually the best in the reefing business?????????? The pellets took 6 months to finally work their magic. I've got a 120 gal Display and a 65 gal sump. I figure my total water column is around 150 gallons. I have a low fish total and a few softies. I'm running a full liter of pellets in two TLF's 150 reactors with two maxijet 1200's for pumps. My nitrates were probably worse than yours, my nitrate readings were 160+ with API and my phosphates were not registering. Randy Holmes-Farley suggested that I get my phosphates higher so that the chemistry would work better for me - the ratio's etc. So I got my phosphates up and added the pellets and stayed very patient for 5 months before I saw any numbers going down. If you have any questions about my situation please feel free to ask???????????????

SaltyNovice

The first thing you will need if you want run a probiotic system (carbon dosing + bacteria), is a large skimmer. This will help keep you tank cleaner, letting you feed more. As for you cyano, this can be controlled by increasing the flow in you tank/fuge and lowering the nutrients in the tank. So I would start dosing bacteria first.

I don't recommend adding products that kill cyano, like "Blue Life Red Slime Rx" because it will kill beneficial bacteria too.

I have a 90 gallon AGA, 50 gal sump 10 remote fuge with cheato, 20L frag tank. I am running a Dual BRS reactors with carbon and GFO. Total water volume is 150 gallons.


I am in the process of having a huge cyano outbreak in my frag tank and just the frag tank. I just set it up about 2 months ago.

IMO, carbon dosing (vodka or solid bio-pellets) and beneficial bacteria dosing (MB7). What is the size of your tank ?