Jeremy1988
03/16/2017, 10:00 PM
Yes I know...this probably is not the right section for this post. Okay so before you comment, please read...please. Situation guys. Got a 90 gallon reef tank. Had it a year almost. Have always kept phosphates at zero with a GFO reactor, have been using a high quality UV sterilizer from the beginning. Nitrates have always been around 5 to 15 PPM max no higher. Got good flow, good lights yada yada yada, lets skip flow and lighting. Anyways...slowly started backing down my GFO reactor because I couldnt see any phosphates on my test kits and wanted some traces. Eventually got rid of my GFO reactor in about a months time span. Decided to get a Bio Pellet reactor due to the fact I only run a filter sock and protein skimmer with LOTS of LR. Probably 100lbs worth at least. So I have NEVER had ANY algae problems before, NEVER. Well I cut my UV sterilizer off (BRS recommendations) and installed my Reef Octopus BR-110 Bio Pellet reactor. Its been running about 3 weeks now. I started to notice some brown fuzzy algae and a touch of GHA...just a touch...like 4 or 5 little spots...so I did some research and people recommended that you need to blow your rocks off and clean the sand bed. Well I thought to myself...I dont blow of my rocks that well all the time...hmmmm...maybe try the turkey baster. Well I did that and holly crap, stuff flew off everywhere...then I said well maybe a tooth brush will work and it did. Knocked it all off. So my question is this...was the UV sterilizer sort of hiding the problem considering my nitrates were not too low and in the medium range, and also did I make a bad decision with cleaning off the rocks and now the GHA will come back with a vengeance? And lastly, should I anticipate a NITRATE SPIKE!? Thanks guys in advance.