Tank Media?

[Wjcastiglione]

Ok, So I've been cycling my tank - I got the diatom bloom going on right now. so, I just ordered my CUC. They should be here Thursday - during this whole cycle, I've ran nothing but filter floss - now that the diatom bloom is here, should I put in the purigen and chemipure in there? or should I wait?

[ghostgr]

I dont see why you couldnt.

[Hexadron]

There's no set rules to this, but the general consensus seems to be one ammonia is 0 and nitrite has converted to nitrate, and you do your first water change, add media

[jestep]

It's a pretty subjective topic. I don't use any media unless there's a reason to use it. GFO only if my PO4 is high and cannot be controlled through normal water changes. Carbon only if I think there is some chemical warfare going on or if there's something I know needs to be removed from the tank.

 

Also, purigen is basically the same as carbon, but reusable. Chemipure is carbon only, chemipure elite is carbon and GFO. Unlikely anyone would need to run both at the same time.

[Wjcastiglione]

There's no set rules to this, but the general consensus seems to be one ammonia is 0 and nitrite has converted to nitrate, and you do your first water change, add media

 

10% water change? or bigger?

[Hexadron]

Depends on your Nitrates really. You want to get them fairly low or non-existent.

[Wjcastiglione]

Depends on your Nitrates really. You want to get them fairly low or non-existent.

 

fairly low - between 5-10 ppm.

[Hexadron]

I would personally recommend a 25% water change

 

This is a really great read to learn about how water changes affect different parameters in the system.

[Wjcastiglione]

I would personally recommend a 25% water change

 

This is a really great read to learn about how water changes affect different parameters in the system.

 

Wowwww graph overload lol I get the jist of it though.

[jservedio]

Besides carbon, only run chemical media if/when you need it and only use it to remove things you can test for. While algae is unsightly and can smother corals - being over-aggressive with chemical media, especially in new tanks, can easily strip out all of your phosphates, cause nutrient imbalances, and starve corals of the nutrients they need.

 

In order your tank to naturally break down nitrates into nitrogen gas (deep in the LR and in a DSB), your tank needs both Carbon and Phosphorus to do this - typically in a ratio of around 116:16:1 (Carbon to Nitrogen to Phosphorus). So, if you use GFO (which is what chemipure primarily is) and strip out all of your phosphates, the bacteria that breaks down nitrates won't be able to.

 

Only use chemical media for things you can test for. In a new tank without a heavy bioload, there is generally absolutely no need to use it and using it can definitely hurt (since you have elevated nitrates). Generally, I try to shoot for phosphates of 0.02-0.05ppm and try and keep my nitrates about 20-25x the amount of phosphate I have, so typically 0.5-1.5ppm.

 

Having truly 0 nitrates or 0 phosphates is horrible and your coral will eventually die since they are a main source for two of the three the building blocks of life - Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

 

Read up on how your tank utilizes nutrients and different strategies for keeping them under control without stripping your tank completely - it is a delicate balance between an algae farm and a sterile tank that you need to maintain.