lil update. i notice that unless you have some sort of pre filter the plates will clog up and hinder flow which will affect how well they work. i let mine go to long and lost a lot of flow, actually only one side of the reactor was flowing very fast and that doesnt help either. so i came home to a lot of algae on the glass one day and also noticed skimmer was skimming less. after cleaning plates in 48 hours my skimmer was pulling some nasty gunk out again. nitrates still undectable, im topping off with 100ml of pellets soon just to help in what i lost during cleanings down the drain and because i have a bigger bio load.