Skimmer upgrade necessary?

Gary Passwaters · Dec 13, 2020

I was curious if I would get any benefit upgrading my skimmer. Currently have a coralife super skimmer 65. I was thinking about getting a reef octopus classic 110int. My nitrates are usually 2-3, phosphates stay high around 0.25. 55 gallon tank, 20g sump. Also have chaeto in the refugium

Daddy-o · Dec 13, 2020

I think you should just work on your phosphate issue with GFO or LC. If you pull more with a better skimmer, your nitrate will bottom out?
Cheers! Mark

Gary Passwaters · Dec 13, 2020

That’s what I was wondering. Just haven’t had any luck with lc. Dose today, phosphates back up within 24-48 hours. Changed foods, fed less, and less often without any substantial change. Thought about getting a brs reactor with gfo, just don’t have much room under my tank

Daddy-o · Dec 13, 2020

Well your rocks/sand absorb phosphates like a sponge and then leach them back into the water. You will need to dose for LC for a while to get and keep your level down-but go slow

Gary Passwaters · Dec 13, 2020

Thanks. I’ll continue to go slow

Daddy-o · Dec 13, 2020

I have been dosing almost daily since the middle of oct.

Gary Passwaters · Dec 13, 2020

Wow. Okay. Guess I better buy so more lc then lol

Daddy-o · Dec 13, 2020

A couple of us reefers have been dosing and kinda sharing results and findings in this thread. Feel free to post your findings:

Did I unlock all the phosphate from 100#s of live rock?

Hi, @Randy Holmes-Farley Several months ago I did a tank clean up. I pulled all the rocks one by one, soaked them in straight vinegar for at least 15-20 minutes, washed, rinsed, and put back into the reef. My question, is it possible that at 2.5ph, the vinegar has unbound phosphate from my...

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