Excess nutrient removal

[kkiel02]

Since in reefkeeping there are so many different ways to set up a successful tank I wanted to brainstorm a little on different tools people use to help eliminate excess nutrients. Feel free to add any I miss or add other nutrients. Also please correct any mistakes you feel I made most of this is coming off the top of my head.

Nitrate- Algae scrubber, nitrate reactors, deep sand beds, macro algae, chemicals and biopellet reactors
Phosphate- GFO reactors, biopellet reactors (pull some but wont pull it all if the nitrate and phosphate ratio isn't exact), algae scrubber, chemicals and macro algae.

I left out skimmers and water changes as most hobbyists run these types of nutrient removal I believe. Ok that's all I can think of now but lets see what others we can come up with.

[Dean]

Properly maintained bio balls are still an efficient means of export.

As nasty as my filter socks get in three days they must be exporting nutrients when I swap them out and clean them.

[Scutterborn]

Bio balls are not actually an export system. They're part of the nitrogen cycle. Converting ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.

Export would imply the removal from the tank. This would be archived by trimming your macro algae and so forth.

[Dean]

Bio balls are not actually an export system. They're part of the nitrogen cycle. Converting ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.

Export would imply the removal from the tank. This would be archived by trimming your macro algae and so forth.

Okay I see what you mean. Since the bio balls allow surface area for the denitrifying bacteria to colonize and convert ammonia and nitrite they are not removing the nitrate from the water column.

Would filter socks be deemed as nutrient export?

[Scutterborn]

They would in the fact that you are removing the larger pieces of organic material before it breaks down.

[Dean]

They would in the fact that you are removing the larger pieces of organic material before it breaks down.

The entire sock turns brown and stinks like a skimmer cup. I use the 200 micron type.

[alton]

One of the easiest is to have soft corals like Xenia, Mushrooms, GSP, and Kenyan Trees. My old office tank that I attached had a level of Nitrates less than 5ppm. I could only run the skimmer two days out of the month or my Xenia would not open and close. I only did a 5 gallon water change every week. Since 1991 I have only used wet / dry filter with Bio Balls or Bale. In my 300 I added a Fuge section and a Skimmer section along with the wet / dry tower. Time also makes a big difference. On my 200 that I had setup for ten years the Nitrates stayed between 2 and 5ppm. With my 300 it took two years before getting below 5ppm. Many use different types of reactors, I like to keep it simple. I Should add softies and SPS are not a good mix, softies will rule and take over most SPS. On the other hand most LPS like Frogspawn will hold there own against Softies

[Cammed_02]

I've found that running GFO really helps the glass remain cleaner for a longer time. Also, syphoning out the sump detritus every other water change. I don't run filter socks, but I'm sure they would really help with this and keep the floaties in the sump to a minimum.

[Justin]

I have used the following on my tank:

GFO- I currenlty use this and it works but the cost of replacement adds up
Biopellets- Works fairly well but increased cyano and stripped my tank too much in conjunction with GFO
Phosban- Pretty good to get things down but get exhausted quickly
LaCl3- this is what I want to start leaning towards. The only issue is the precipitate, but once you get that taken care of, its pennies to keep PO4 down.

[OrionN]

For me,
Water change (50 gal/week in a 450 system)
Skimmer
DSB and
GAC and GFO

[jason081180]

One of the easiest is to have soft corals like Xenia, Mushrooms, GSP, and Kenyan Trees. My old office tank that I attached had a level of Nitrates less than 5ppm. I could only run the skimmer two days out of the month or my Xenia would not open and close. I only did a 5 gallon water change every week. Since 1991 I have only used wet / dry filter with Bio Balls or Bale. In my 300 I added a Fuge section and a Skimmer section along with the wet / dry tower. Time also makes a big difference. On my 200 that I had setup for ten years the Nitrates stayed between 2 and 5ppm. With my 300 it took two years before getting below 5ppm. Many use different types of reactors, I like to keep it simple. I Should add softies and SPS are not a good mix, softies will rule and take over most SPS. On the other hand most LPS like Frogspawn will hold there own against Softies

I also like you idea about using corals and such as an export system. I use that and am always looking for more softies to help. I also run over sized skimmers, Skim the crap out of the water. literately lol. But I wonder if that is why my Xenia is not pulsing as much as I would like. I actualy have two skimmers in my sump. 150 gal total water. One skimmer is a reef octopus rated for 125 gallons alone. The other came with the tank and I have no idea about it, brand or rating, no one on here could identify it either. Both pull a good amount of nasty out of the water. But I wonder if iI turn one off maybe the Xenia would start pulsating more. Maybe my softies are starved and they would grow better if I turned one off. They are growing now but maybe they will even better.

As for filter socks I have never used them but I have heard if you don't clean them regularly they will become nitrate factories as the waste is still in the water breaking down. Skimmers on the other hand take the waste out of the water before if can break down more.

[kkiel02]

Good discussion so far. I forgot about Xenia fuges. Good call

[LuckySingh]

my current tank has been doing great solely on a large protein skimmer for nutrient export. i started very slowly on this tank and took several months to add the 1st fish and now i have got 3. Corals were added after a month and were getting heavily fed every day and growth has been ok thou i only have sps right now . Colors are not to great as my tank has been running sterilized since day 1 but now since i have got three fishes feeding has been increased and colors have started to come back. Minimal rock and little sand with a huge protien skimmer and once a month water change has been a key for me:)

[Zoofan]

I use a 100 micron filter pad and change it out about every 2 to 3 days. Manually removing algae during water changes is great also, I brush, scrape, pull extra algae I may have and suction it out of the water.

You can move a large amount of organic material out of your tank with the filter pads, mine are usually brown after two days.

[Scutterborn]

I will admit this. I had a huge algae problem. I started running an algae turf scrubber and it's all gone in the DT. I hate changing socks every couple days.

[ST3PH3N]

I will admit this. I had a huge algae problem. I started running an algae turf scrubber and it's all gone in the DT. I hate changing socks every couple days.

I'm really thinking hard about doing an algae scrubber. Your thread was really helpful.


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[Zack]

What Difference, if any is there between algae scrubber and Cheato in your display with a light on it?

[kkiel02]

The algae in the scrubber grows at a much faster rate than chaeto. So it pulls out the nutrients quicker. I loved my scrubber but had to ditch it when I moved my tank in-wall. Now I'm giving biopellets a try so hopefully I can get the same results.

[Zack]

What makes it grow quicker?

[kkiel02]

It's micro algae vs macro algae. It's hair algae growth rate vs chaeto growth rate. I had a waterfall type DIY scrubber and would scrape it all the time. I know they have better designs now but I had good success with mine. Santa Monica even sells them on his site now.

[Zack]

I'll be honest I never thought of it like that. Thanks !