passive carbon for pico.

[REEFerMAdNESS88]

Hello all I currently have a 2.5 pico running for about 4 months now all critters look happy. I am however going through the algae bloom blues. My nitrates hover around 7 and 10 ppm and i have not tested phosphates but judging from the algae growth its there. So I was considering dropping a small mesh bag of carbon into my mini fuge to strip some nutrients. im new to the hobby so forgive my ignorance but the carbon should absorb some of those phosphates and nitrates correct? Since it will bein a small mesh bag could i leave it in there constantly and just change it every few weeks? whats the meaning of life?

[bob115]

Carbon isn't really going to do much if anything to absorb nutrients. It's really for water clarity and if there are contaminants. Which doesn't mean it isn't worth throwing in a bag of carbon now and again because it really helps with keeping your tank looking good.

GFO is what you're going to want for phosphate control. Since you'll be running passively, I'd suggest mixing a little with your carbon to keep it from fusing into a solid mass.

Nitrate control has a number of options for control with varying levels of success, but I don't know of a widely used one that's an equivalent to GFO for phosphates. Purigen comes to mind, but I don't recall just how effective it is at actually reducing nitrates.

More than media, I think you should take a look at your husbandry and filtration for the source of your excess nutrients. It's a better, cheaper, long term solution. Which is again not to say that media isn't helpful, but it shouldn't be a crutch.

[brandon429]

Sight unseen we can cure all the algae out of your tank in about seven days, w sixty pages of others to show as well. holler if other actions aren't as positive to work without knowing any detail at all specifically within seven days

Hate to hear of anyone's algae optional problems during holidays

 

B

[fishfreak0114]

Phosgaurd reduces phosphates.