Good morning!
I do run a substrate reactor on most of my tanks with a phosphate absorbing media, and that has worked well for me, but it is certainly not necessary IMO.
Wha are you running in terms of filtration on the system? IME, often elevated phospahte and nitrate levels are secondary to dirty filtration media (barring other obvious causes). Implementing a regular program of cleaning all your filter media (filter floss, sponges, socks, etc.) on a rotating basis can work wonders in terms of keeping nitrates and phosphates from creeping back up in a system several months down the road. Just be sure you don't clean everything at once, as that could seriously disrupt the stability of the system.
Personally, I have chosen to remove all intentional mechanical and biological filter media from most of my systems except for a filter sock which I change out and clean regularly on the systems with a sump (note: I do consider a skimmer mechanical filtration, and I do run a skimmer on all my systems). I rely on live rock and, in one case, a fluidized bed filter for all biological filtraton. I do run the phosphate media as mentioned above in a substrate reactor, and I also periodically run charcoal (I run charcoal 24-7 on my soft coral tank, but that tank is still in its infancy
). In the case of chemical media (e.g. Phosban and charcoal), I change it regularly.
Getting rid of anything in the system that can become a magnet for detritus and other accumulated organics has been very effective for me in keeping nitrates and phosphates low to zero over the long-term. Obviously good husbandry is also critical (e.g., don't feed too much, don't feed cheap phosphate laden foods).
Anyway, that's my two cents--hope it helps.
Ret
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