nwsharksfan
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have a phosban reactor on my 55 gal. I first used the phosban gfo and then switched to GFO from Kolar Filtration which I think I bought either from amazon or BRS. My phosphate levels are testing and have remained steady at .04 ppm (red sea test kit). I haven't been able to get them any lower. I do a 20% water change weekly. I have no issues with hair algae but have been getting a lot of brown algae on the glass.
Questions:
1) Was curious first if different GFO's work better or if they're all pretty much the same stuff. My phosphate levels seem pretty steady at .04 ppm even after just putting new GFO in. Can/should I use something like phosphate rx to try to push phosphates down more?
2) My nitrates have been between 20 and 40 ppm. Can this be the sole cause of the algae? I put some purigen in my filter during my last water change to try to bring it down. Doing two water changes a week is not going to work. It takes 1 1/2 days for my RO unit to produce enough water for one change and I don't have the time.
3) Are pom pom xenia especially sensitive to nitrates? I purchased a frag about 1 1/2 months ago. At first it seemed to do ok but now is wilty. I have a toadstool, duncans, clove polyps, and mushrooms that all seem to being doing well. In fact the suspected acan that came on the live rock and seemed to be on the brink for the better part of 6 months now looks like it's flourishing.
Parameters (after today's water change):
Temp: 82 (too high?)
Salinity: 1.024
Nitrate: down to 5 ppm as of today (guess the purigen is working)
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
pH: 8
Alk: 8
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1140 (added Tech M to hopefully bring this up a bit)
TDS: 665 (is there any benefit to measuring this in tank water?)
Questions:
1) Was curious first if different GFO's work better or if they're all pretty much the same stuff. My phosphate levels seem pretty steady at .04 ppm even after just putting new GFO in. Can/should I use something like phosphate rx to try to push phosphates down more?
2) My nitrates have been between 20 and 40 ppm. Can this be the sole cause of the algae? I put some purigen in my filter during my last water change to try to bring it down. Doing two water changes a week is not going to work. It takes 1 1/2 days for my RO unit to produce enough water for one change and I don't have the time.
3) Are pom pom xenia especially sensitive to nitrates? I purchased a frag about 1 1/2 months ago. At first it seemed to do ok but now is wilty. I have a toadstool, duncans, clove polyps, and mushrooms that all seem to being doing well. In fact the suspected acan that came on the live rock and seemed to be on the brink for the better part of 6 months now looks like it's flourishing.
Parameters (after today's water change):
Temp: 82 (too high?)
Salinity: 1.024
Nitrate: down to 5 ppm as of today (guess the purigen is working)
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
pH: 8
Alk: 8
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1140 (added Tech M to hopefully bring this up a bit)
TDS: 665 (is there any benefit to measuring this in tank water?)
