Should I Be Worried?

[njreefermadness]

My 180 bare bottom SPS reef has stubbornly high Phosphates and nitrates. My coral are growing and show good color (polyp extension is another story, but I blame my lack of PE on the angels in my tank). Here is my problem (or is it?). My phosphates routinely run around .13 - .15 (not .013 - .015). This is measured on a colorimeter, so I feel this is fairly accurate. I run 2 GFO reactors 24 X 7. I also measure my nitrates from time to time at 5 - 10 on my LaMotte kit. Based on these shockingly high parameters, my tank should be over-run w/ all kinds of algae, but it isn't. My corals are healthy, showing good color. I clean my glass maybe 2 times per week.

I do religious 30 gallon weekly water changes.

I have the following fish population:

Naso tang
Sailfin tang
Hippo tang
Kole tang
Powder Brown tang

Pink Tail trigger

Flame angel
Lemon peel angel
Regal angel
Juvy Emperor angel

10 green chromis

Vrolik Wrasse

2 Bangai Cardinals

I know this is a fairly heavy fish load for an SPS tank.

My tank has insane flow w/ 4 Vortech MP 40s and 7 Modded tunze nano-streams across the back, and 2 3/4 inch sea swirls returning about 1200 GPH.

I am running a Vertex Alpha 250 skimmer, and 6 X AI Sol blue LED modules.


I was a religious Zeo user, but that still did not get the parms down. I am now kinda half assing the zeo, using the bak/food/start.


My question is should I be concerned about the high nutrient parameters?

I was thinking of running bio pellets, but have seen some bad experiences from some folks.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Herb