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Unread 12/01/2012, 10:29 PM   #1
Jeff120reef
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Washington, MO
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Need help!

So, I have been reading on this site for several months now and I am fairly new to the hobby but haven't really posted anything or asked any of my own questions. So here it goes! With the current set up I have, I also have a little bit of a hair algae and cyno problem. Obviously I believe the high Nitrate levels have a lot to do with it. I also have a Fluval 305 canister filter that I used on my first SW tank--60 gallon. I have never set it up on the new tank because the LFS told me I wouldn't need it with the sump/ refugium setup. However, I was wondering if instead of spending a bunch of money on additional biopellet reactors, is there anyway I can use the canister filter and set it up directly next to the sump and what kind of media can I put in there that would be beneficial to removing nitrates and overall improving water conditions?

Current Parameters: Nitrates: 25-50 ppm (trying to lower this), Salinity: 1.025, KH: 10dkH, Phosphates: 0.02, Calc: 390 ppm, Mag:1320 ppm.

Thanks!


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Tank info: 120 RR, Eshopps R-200 sump/ refugium, Reef Octopus NWB 150 skimmer, AquaticLife T5HO Lighting w/Moon lights, 2 Hydor 1400 Evos, Phosban150, 2 MJ 900s, ATO, 4 stage RO/DI unit.
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Unread 12/01/2012, 10:38 PM   #2
Pieface
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How long has the tank been running? How big is the bio load in the tank?


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Unread 12/01/2012, 10:42 PM   #3
Jeff120reef
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Running almost a year, bioload- 2 clowns, flame angel, skunk back cleaner shrimp, and a couple crabs....(looking to add more fish down the road, wanna get the algae and nitrates under control)


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Tank info: 120 RR, Eshopps R-200 sump/ refugium, Reef Octopus NWB 150 skimmer, AquaticLife T5HO Lighting w/Moon lights, 2 Hydor 1400 Evos, Phosban150, 2 MJ 900s, ATO, 4 stage RO/DI unit.
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Unread 12/01/2012, 10:46 PM   #4
Jeff120reef
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Location: Washington, MO
Posts: 31
also, I only have LR and a 4 inch deep sand bed in the refuge area right now, eventually want to get lighting and Chaeto and make a real refuge area.


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Tank info: 120 RR, Eshopps R-200 sump/ refugium, Reef Octopus NWB 150 skimmer, AquaticLife T5HO Lighting w/Moon lights, 2 Hydor 1400 Evos, Phosban150, 2 MJ 900s, ATO, 4 stage RO/DI unit.
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Unread 12/01/2012, 11:02 PM   #5
Pieface
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With that load you should not have a problem with the Nitrates. The only other thing I can think of is over feeding. Have you tried doing a few small water changes to bring the nitrates down? like 20% to 50% change.


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Unread 12/01/2012, 11:08 PM   #6
Jeff120reef
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I have done 3 20% percent water changes--every 2 weeks to bring the nitrates down...The reason they are that high in the first place is...being new and all, the LFS was testing my water for me and telling me that everything was fine and that if water parameters are good then I dont need to do water changes (obviously after a few hours on here I can see a majority of the folks would say that is inaccurate) so before 1.5 months ago I hadn't done a WC in almost 5-6 months....because the LFS told me it was fine not to. And I only feed enough food to the tank that they can eat in 2 minutes...based on what I have read on here as a good method for feeding and only feed once a day a small amount.


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Tank info: 120 RR, Eshopps R-200 sump/ refugium, Reef Octopus NWB 150 skimmer, AquaticLife T5HO Lighting w/Moon lights, 2 Hydor 1400 Evos, Phosban150, 2 MJ 900s, ATO, 4 stage RO/DI unit.
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Unread 12/01/2012, 11:42 PM   #7
Pieface
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As you have found this hobby has many different answers to the same problem. The feeding sounds correct. If it was me I would do a larger water change, maybe a 50% water change and test the water a day latter


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