Sumps and copapods

[Hilltopreef90]

Im planning to remove my basket that I’m using as a refugium to grow Chaeto and replace it with a media reactor, I’ll have a skimmer and the reactor in my sump and I’m wondering if I’ll still be able to keep copapods in my sump or will the skimmer and reactor make it so copapods can’t still live in my sump ?
I’ll still be able to add some rocks at the bottom of my sump but there won’t be room for a refugium or separate area for the copapods to live

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Im planning to remove my basket that I’m using as a refugium to grow Chaeto and replace it with a media reactor, I’ll have a skimmer and the reactor in my sump and I’m wondering if I’ll still be able to keep copapods in my sump or will the skimmer and reactor make it so copapods can’t still live in my sump ?
I’ll still be able to add some rocks at the bottom of my sump but there won’t be room for a refugium or separate area for the copapods to live

Copepods breed in algae. If you're frustrated with Chaeto, consider buying or building an algae turf scrubber as an alternative. Media reactors are difficult to tune and often end up stripping too much nutrients out of the water causing issues. I have built my own turf scrubber the last 2 tanks i've had, and i can tell you they grow copepods just as well or better than chaeto. I built mine above the sump so it drains directly into the sump (it has a bottom with tubes into the water to eliminate splashing). I have a skimmer and no issues with reduced copepods. I do have the ATS output after the skimmer so at least any pods leaving the ATS will go directly into the display but I doubt the skimmer would make much difference either way. The majority of your pods are going to be hanging out on surfaces and some will get sucked into equipment no matter how you configure it.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

Copepods breed in algae. If you're frustrated with Chaeto, consider buying or building an algae turf scrubber as an alternative. Media reactors are difficult to tune and often end up stripping too much nutrients out of the water causing issues. I have built my own turf scrubber the last 2 tanks i've had, and i can tell you they grow copepods just as well or better than chaeto. I built mine above the sump so it drains directly into the sump (it has a bottom with tubes into the water to eliminate splashing). I have a skimmer and no issues with reduced copepods. I do have the ATS output after the skimmer so at least any pods leaving the ATS will go directly into the display but I doubt the skimmer would make much difference either way. The majority of your pods are going to be hanging out on surfaces and some will get sucked into equipment no matter how you configure it.

Even though my chaeto is growing well I’m still dealing with extremely high nitrates which is another reason I’m considering using a media reactor

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Even though my chaeto is growing well I’m still dealing with extremely high nitrates which is another reason I’m considering using a media reactor

the green hair algae seems to take care of nitrates and phosphates equally well. It's what nature provides to deal with the issue in most aquariums when nutrients get out of hand, so why not use it to your advantage? That's just my philosophy right now. Lots of people have good success with media reactors too. I just think I see a lot of instances of dinoflagellates where people overdid it with media reactors. It can happen with turf scrubbing too though. just offering my experience to consider. My nitrates stay at 20 and phosphate hovers around .08-.11 with the turf scrubber. you just have to adjust the surface area and photoperiod so i guess it's not that different from a reactor. The main difference i guess is that it allows copepods to breed well

 

[Hilltopreef90]

My nitrates are through the roof and I don’t understand why, I do weekly water changes, change my filter socks twice a week
My phosphates are low but the nitrates are so high my Hanna checker doesn’t go high enough to measure them.
I’m so frustrated!!! My corals were doing ok but lately they’re all starting to decline.
I need to check my rodi system to see if maybe something is off since there’s nothing else I’ve done or changed to make sense of why my corals are dying.
Any advice is welcome

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

My nitrates are through the roof and I don’t understand why, I do weekly water changes, change my filter socks twice a week
My phosphates are low but the nitrates are so high my Hanna checker doesn’t go high enough to measure them.
I’m so frustrated!!! My corals were doing ok but lately they’re all starting to decline.
I need to check my rodi system to see if maybe something is off since there’s nothing else I’ve done or changed to make sense of why my corals are dying.
Any advice is welcome

What is your phosphate level? You need phosphate in ratio with nitrate to reduce or increase.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

What is your phosphate level? You need phosphate in ratio with nitrate to reduce or increase.

My phosphates are at a reasonable level and no where near a decent ratio to my nitrates
My nitrates are over 75

 

[Koh23]

Ah, yes, the reasonable level...

Something that all test kits should incorporate asap.. no numerical values, no readings, nothing, all it take to fully understand problem is to know is something "reasonable" or "not reasonable"....

Kidding, but, hey, who in the world can help you if you say "reasonable"... Give some numbers for old school, we like numbers...

 

[Hilltopreef90]

Ah, yes, the reasonable level...

Something that all test kits should incorporate asap.. no numerical values, no readings, nothing, all it take to fully understand problem is to know is something "reasonable" or "not reasonable"....

Kidding, but, hey, who in the world can help you if you say "reasonable"... Give some numbers for old school, we like numbers...

Sorry, lol
My reasonable probably isn’t most people’s reasonable but considering how high it was it’s 0.09
My nitrate reads 75 and I’ve checked the tester and found that it’s fine and my level is most likely over 75 since the tester only goes that high

 

[Koh23]

Bit high, but, i agree - still reasonable