Gfo vs refugium?

[LEGACYLINE]

I have a 90 gallon with a 6 inch deep sandbed in the display ( I know but I'm the few that like them)..anyway I have chaeto growing great I'm also running gfo but my corals have not grown much over the past 6 months ..there is some growth but very little ...I was wondering if taking gfo off and letting the phosphates creep up a bit would be the best thing ? Or dose nitrate ? I always read 0 on nitrates and phosphates..I must have some though i harvest chaeto every week I have no problems growing that stuff at all so I'm wondering if I'm starving my corals a bit ? They look a bit faded also I'm feeding the tank (fish) twice a day bioload is 4 fish

Mag 1350
Cal 430
Alk 8.4
Phosphates 0
Nitrates 0
Salinity 1.026

 

[Punchanello]

I have only really used GFO for a short period when my phosphates were clearly off the scale, especially in comparison to my nitrate levels. I've found that a chaeto refugium is effective but in my case didn't seem to remove phosphate at the same comparative rate of uptake as nitrate. Now that things are on a more even keel I don't think I need it any more.

I would use it again temporarily if my nitrates were looking ok but my phosphates were going crazy.

I have limited experience but I would take the GFO off line and just run your fuge on its own and monitor. At least then you can see what the true effect of the fuge is on your nutrients. If you are still registering very low N and P then reduce the photoperiod or turn the intensity down on your fuge light.

 

[LEGACYLINE]

Ok thanks for the reply..I do run my fuge light 24/7 I'll try backing that off a bit..I did take the gfo off before and had an algea outbreak but I also harvested almost all my chaeto at the same time I took gfo off and only left a small ball to regrow ..so I might have had a bit of a phosphate spike doing that all at once