Fixing a tank that is struggling with high nutrients

[reaper93]

The thing is, nothing is going to be sufficient in a set-it-and-forget it way. Having live rock and sand will slow the rise in nitrates in particular, but you'll have to do something to level that increase out, water changes being it. I recommend this because a refugium, algae turf scrubber, biopellets, "nopox", vinegar/vodka dosing with a skimmer are runaway freight train methods of nutrient reduction and can very easily take your nutrients levels way too low and cause much worse issues than having elevated nutrients. I carbon dosed my tank for many years, and you HAVE to religiously watch your nutrient levels doing that stuff. I've also ran refugiums and algae turf scrubbers and it honesty became a hassle gauging how much chaeto to leave after a harvest....and testing iron....and wondering why it's changing colors....and picking chaeto strands out of my return pump... Keep it simple.

Thing is doing large water changes on a pretty frequent basis is not really feasible for my schedule which is why I was looking into an alternative. Possibly the addition of more biomedia?

 

[ZoWhat]

Every tank should be dosed with 80proof Vodka and TM bactobalance. It's been my stabilizing cure for years

No3 5-10
Po4 0.1 or less

 

[Crustaceon]

Thing is doing large water changes on a pretty frequent basis is not really feasible for my schedule which is why I was looking into an alternative. Possibly the addition of more biomedia?

It's hard to find a good balance that way and the worst part is, you'll add enough seachem matrix etc. to see a gradual reduction in nitrates, but will end up having to remove some media to get it dialed in. You'll probably also have to find a way to deal with phosphates which takes you further down the rabbit hole. You might want to research carbon dosing, but keep in mind, it's extremely important to test nitrates and phosphates several times a week with this method. You can reduce nutrients without having to do water changes this way, but you have to be extremely diligent.

 

[reaper93]

It's hard to find a good balance that way and the worst part is, you'll add enough seachem matrix etc. to see a gradual reduction in nitrates, but will end up having to remove some media to get it dialed in. You'll probably also have to find a way to deal with phosphates which takes you further down the rabbit hole. You might want to research carbon dosing, but keep in mind, it's extremely important to test nitrates and phosphates several times a week with this method. You can reduce nutrients without having to do water changes this way, but you have to be extremely diligent.

Yeah I guess some algae is better than dealing with dinos down the road

 

[Crustaceon]

Yeah I guess some algae is better than dealing with dinos down the road

Oh for sure. I had to reboot my current system because of dinos. Fully swapped rocks, sand, two week blackout and ran UV. I'd take hair algae any day over dinos. I've resolved algae issues with an old toothbrush and water changes so yeah...

 

[Gatorpa]

The thing is, nothing is going to be sufficient in a set-it-and-forget it way. Having live rock and sand will slow the rise in nitrates in particular, but you'll have to do something to level that increase out, water changes being it. I recommend this because a refugium, algae turf scrubber, biopellets, "nopox", vinegar/vodka dosing with a skimmer are runaway freight train methods of nutrient reduction and can very easily take your nutrients levels way too low and cause much worse issues than having elevated nutrients. I carbon dosed my tank for many years, and you HAVE to religiously watch your nutrient levels doing that stuff. I've also ran refugiums and algae turf scrubbers and it honesty became a hassle gauging how much chaeto to leave after a harvest....and testing iron....and wondering why it's changing colors....and picking chaeto strands out of my return pump... Keep it simple.

best post ever