When to add PHOSBAN reactor

[greg1786]

My tank has been up and running now for 65 days. I currently have 5 Tongan Nassarius snails, 6 astrea snails, 2 peppermint shrimp, a massive pod population, and various pineapple sponges, brittle stars etc from my live rock I seeded with. I've been beyond the initial cycle for over a month, 0 ammonia and nitrite, and currently into the diatoms phase for about 3 weeks.

The tank is 125 gallons with an eshopps rs200 sump, reef octo nwb150 , about 150lbs of LR 25lbs of which is in the sump, and a 1inch aragonite/ oolite mixture for sandbed. I have no fish or corals yet but will be purchasing a pair of clowns within a week. The clowns will go to qt for 6 weeks so the DT will be fishless until after Xmas. My most recent water tests were taken Nov. 12 and consisted of the following...
Temp: 76.8. Cal: 450
Ammonia: 0. Alk: 8.6
Nitrite: 0. mag: 1300
Ph: 7.9
N03: 0.5ppm
P04: 0.04ppm
Sg: 1.025

Now I know that my P04 levels are already very low and that is largely in part due to the fact that I have no livestock. I feed every other day and only about 8-10 new era pellets for the shrimp, nass snails, and brittle stars. I haven't set up my phosban reactor because my levels are so low but I'm curious if I should throw it online now. I always ran it on my system years ago when I had a full blown sps tank so I feel like I need to get it up and running as a preventive measure to assure that my P04 remains low going forward. On the flip side of that, I don't want to prematurely blow through a bunch of GFO for no reason. I need some help from some experts out there am I being over zealous in wanting to get the phosban reactor running or is the preventive tactic worthwhile? If its too early I'm very open to suggestions on when you may think it necessary to add it. Sorry for the long post thanks in advance for any help. Greg

 

[Mr. Bill]

Honestly, your PO4 level is perfect. Corals utilize Phosphate (and Nitrate), insomuch that some aquarists have to dose their tank so their corals can retain their color and growth. Aside from blowing through a bunch of GFO, adding the reactor now would strip your water clean. My suggestion is to wait and continue monitoring your levels, and only add the reactor when you need it to lower/control your PO4.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You could add it with a very small amount of media, but I'd personally just wait.

 

[greg1786]

Ok guys thank you for the responses. I was really just a bit unsure if I should add it now in hopes that it would keep the p04 from raising once I begin adding livestock. I appreciate the advice I'm gonna hold off for now. We can revisit the topic down the road in a couple months

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Good luck and happy reefing.