Filtration/nutrient control

[bimborocks]

I am in the planning stages of setting up a spare 18inch cube as a nps tank and wondering what everyone is using for their main nutrient control?

 

[bimborocks]

Carbon dosing (pellets, nopox, vodka)? Refuge? just rely on daily/weekly/monthly water changes?

 

[noy]

I have a very heavily stocked 60 gallon cube.
My main nutrient/export is regular water changes. I try to do it weekly and change 15-20 % of the water volume.

I do some mechanical filtration in the tank - i find that with all the gorgs shedding - it builds up a bit if you don't do it. I don't keep it running - just times when i blow all the loose skin of the gorgs. I have a lot of gorgs in the tank.

I run GFO like there is no tomorrow. I don't do carbon dosing - I stopped as i have a real concern about cyano with carbon dosing. gorgs and the skin of sun corals are magnets for cyano.

My strategy in filtration is if I can keep PO4 down - then there is no algae growth. I don't really worry about NO3 levels - don't even measure it.

I started experimenting with LaCL - results are decent so far.

 

[bimborocks]

Initially I was planning on running biopelelts as I have had great success with them on my sps tank but I do have some small patches of cyano which a you mention could be a problem in a nps tank. To control PO4 in the past I have dosed lanth with good results and once it was at ulns levels I dose KNO3 to keep po4 at a stable level and adjust the amount of bio pellets to suit.

Do you think running a media such as siporax or matrix would be a better idea and then controlling po4 with gfo/lanth etc?