Biocube 14g build / filter upgrade questions

[GrandAmber]

I am relatively new to saltwater...I have done a lot of reading for a couple of years and had a couple of tanks start and fall apart. I have finally had my 14g biocube up and running for a few months and things are going great! I have included some pictures and am open to suggestions.

 

My main question is about water quality. Right now I have the stock filter pads, bioballs, a biocube protein skimmer, chemipure and an mj900 pump. I want to remove the bioballs and was looking at the intank media basket but have also been reading about phosphate reactors that fit in the 2nd chamber.

 

This may be a stupid question but I am wondering if it makes sense to have both the media basket and the phosphate reactor? Or should I just choose one? If so which one does everyone think would be best? I know all of these things arent required but I do plan to have a lot of corals and a few fish and my ultimate goal is to have the best water quality possible while keeping the AIO setup and the hood. I would like everything to be contained and I dont want to start anything with lights and chaeto.

 

Is it effective to have a media basket with chemipure, purigen and a bag of phosban? Since I am new I dont fully understand what exactly all of these products accomplish and I dont want to mix two things that 1. dont go together or 2. are essentially the same and waste the product.

 

Current livestock / corals

 

1 Clownfish

1 Flowerpot Coral

1 Duncan Coral

2 Zooanthids

1 Mushroom coral

1 Clover Polyp

1 Acan

2 Nudibranchs (yes i know...had them a month and have hopefully found their food source, confirmed none of them release toxins)

 

I dont know my exact water perameters at this time as I have a guy that comes and does maintenance once a month. I know my levels are within the reasonable limits but my phosphates are a little on the high side. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

 

More pictures since it seems I can only add one at a time

current filter set up

My favorite corals

[seabass]

to N-R.com.

 

I'd run the skimmer with an inTank media basket. There is phosphate reducing media available for filter chambers, like Phosguard (which doesn't require a reactor). There is an endless number of media combinations which you can run. Some combinations work (like mixing activated carbon and Phosguard in a media bag). I like Phosguard and activated carbon, and you could add either Purigen or ChemiPure if you wish.

 

Start a log book for your parameters and get a good low range phosphate test kit (like a Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker). When running phosphate reducing media, it's important not to reduce phosphate too quickly or too low. Phosphate is an important nutrient in our tanks. It gets a bad rap because as it goes above 0.03ppm, problem algae can appear.

 

Once you have an algae bloom (or cyanobacteria, or dinos), the bloom utilizes the phosphate in the water and test kits often don't show problem levels of phosphate present. So it's important to keep up with your phosphate testing, and adjust the media accordingly. If you don't have an algae problem, I'd start with half the recommended amount of Phosguard and monitor the results, switching it out as needed to get to the desired range (0.01 to 0.03ppm phosphate, or 3 to 10ppb phosphorus).

 

A quick note on removing the bio-balls. They are part of your bio-filter, so remove like a third of them every week until gone. This will allow the bacteria to establish on the rock instead.

[dpoltsdsu]

I did Chemipure and Purigen in a media rack and a 5 gallon water change every weeks and a half and that simple combination kept the water really clean when I had a Biocube 14