Continuing Nitrate problem and green algae growth

[greg97527]

use phosguard in a filter sock
and put it over your outlet on the skimmer or in a refugium

[dkode]

i'm in the process of building a sump refg. now. Should i wait until i put together the sump and refg. (about another 2 weeks) or go ahead and just stick it in my wet/dry filter?

[Dirt4dinner]

If you are planning on adding a fuge in the near future...I would just do a couple good size water changes...of 15 or 20 gallons. Do one now, and then another in 3 or 4 days. You should noticed a pretty good drop in nitrates. Bioballs are usually not recommended for reef tanks. They could potentially cause a rise in Nitrates as they collect waste material. Keep us posted. But start with the basics, water changes.

[iVgOnMaD]

Remove the carbon.

Add phosphate remover resins of your choice.

Do water changes.

Make sure you are feeding high quality food for marine fish. (Food for fresh water fish may contain chemicals that are not good for a reef environment).

You can replace your carbon with Volcanic Rock gravel or pebbles and seed it with a pound of live rock rubble. The volcanic rock should be the very porous and light, kinda like puffy. It will soon be alive as well, so no need to spend hundreds on some more live rock hehe.

Keep track of your skimmer too, it is a very important part of your tank, empty it out as often as needed or it will overfill and spill the bad stuff back in your tank.

[hummer]

have you ever testd for copper my be thats why your inverts die ... you did say you got the tank used maybe the last owner used some kind of copper base meds in there?????

[Fally]

You can build or buy a reactor for phosphate or any media and it will greatly increase the effectiveness of the media. Phosphate is the reason for your algae growth. I designed and built the DIY reactor in the link below and my problems went away. Filter socks suck because the water pretty much just runs around the media instead of through it.

Try this for a DIY thread:
http://www.captivereefing.com/showth...5303#post35303

Check out this reactor:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products.../Itemdy00.aspx