.08 phosphates

Get rid of the CANISTER. It is the main source of your trates and phos. Keep your crushed coral clean. Vacuum it at least once every two weeks. Set up an overflow with a refugium to replace the canister. This will rid your tank of the trates and phos. GFO helps but it only puts a bandaid on the main problem and the main problem is the canister.

 

I use the Merck- and even it can be off as previously posted-i have compared it to test stips and they are both close to each other. Either way, phosphates are not immediate killers of any tank they just allow algae to breed, but left unchecked can cause major problems.

The main problems are ammonia and nitrites for any tank. SW is very similar to FW in this, just a little more complicated- desired chemical compounds can be critical for corals and their growth or failure rates, but not overly so- soon you'll do fine.

Skimmers are very important, as they not only filter the water but add needed O2 as well. More on this later.

I will post pic's of the 45 tomorrow, been meaning to do this, I just haven't had time or effort after a hard day's work.

 

Bah, not true- maintence solves this problem- easily. Ya just dont run filters in a canister (if you do clean them once a week- which is easy to do) and they simply become water pumps or reactors. Only filters can cause nitrates and phosphates, not media.

 

awesome....so as of now I have only two sponges in my canister, you guys suggest that I clean it out take the filters out and just have some GFO in it turn it into a reactor? It pumps like 160 gph. Should I layer it? since I also have carbon in the canister. I never though of that but if its doable and a good idea (which i think it is) i'll do that this weekend!

 

Sounds good. I keep a canister and generally just run carbon in it. GFO is good too is you don't have a reactor and is effective as long as the flow is between 100gph-200gph. After that it's too much flow for GFO, but your in this range, so should be fine. You can run it in a separate bag, or mix with carbon, it doesn't really matter. I don't run sponges, but have some on hand. Occasionally I will add them for a while if I there is excessive particulates in the water. However, normally they are not needed.