Advice? Gfo or biopellets

What are you going to use? The spectracide? I used the Flourish Nitrogen. Worked great. It's a fresh water planted tank additive.
Got mine 4ppm and it holds there after I got it there. Took me a few weeks but works good and colors improved.

 

The tank I dosed is all sps. After I reached desired level I can keep it there with heavy feedings.
I could have probably got to desired levels in a couple days I just took my time.
I just used flourish because I could get it at local fish store.

 

I run a large skimmer, a turbo l2 rev3 algae scrubber, small amounts of gfo and carbon. I do daily auto water changes of 3 gallons with Neptune DOS. I dose BRS 2 part. No vodka or vinegar. After my initial dosing of flourish I haven't had to dose. I just feed a few more times a day and nitrates hold at 4ppm. That's what I was shooting for. Anywhere from 2 to 5ppm.
I am slowly taking my gfo offline. My scrubber would probably produce more if I did but I don't want a tank of brown acroporas so slowly I will get there.
I have another 120 gallon tank full of LPS and only filtration on that is skimmer and rock, 2 inch sand, and refugium and works just fine with weekly water changes. No additives only 2 part for alkalinity and calcium and magnesium uptake. I went with simple on this system.

 

Do you have a dsb, scrubber, barebottom? The only other stuff you use is gfo?

 

When I dosed nitrates my system was processing it pretty fast. Then I must have hit the sweet spot for my tank at 4ppm.
I just feed my tank a little more and I haven't had to dose for about 2 months now.
I feed 1 frozen cube at night and my auto feeder does 1 rotation at 3 and 7 pm, pellets. No other foods added.
I am slowly taking go reactor off line. Only running about half a cup changed every 5 or 6 weeks. I need to just shut it down and let my algae scrubber work a little harder, but with a tank full of finicky sps I am going slow.

You may have to dose several times a day to get nitrate where you want it. And maybe feed a bit more and try adding some amino acids once or twice a week.

 

Ahh, I was wondering if you were barebottom... Could always just add more sand. (and stop siphoning)
This is what I do when I setup any tank. Utilizing the sand as a nitrate factory. 3-4" should do it. But I do carbon dose, not sure how an ATS will take that load..

 

I would not add any more sand. Leave it be. Do 1 thing at a time. Or you could end up with a big problem.
If your gonna carbon dose do that but should be setup to do daily.

 

I will say until I dosed hourly there was always irregular glass growth here and there every week to week. Or at least it seemed to me I was doing the same doses at this time each day or other, but would sometimes result in a light dusting of algae on the glass and then other days, nothing.