hi all i have a red sea max it has been setup for about 6 weeks i have about 15 kg of live rock. I dont have any hair alage on the rock but i do on the back glass. I have some live rock rubel in the return pump chamber and have taken out the white sponge and cut the black sponge in half. I have rowaphos and sea/gel carbon mix in the chamber next to the skimmer. Is this the right place to have the rowaphos and carbon/mix. I have also noticed first thing in the morning before the lights go on brown string like alage on the sand base this disapears after the lights have been on for a time what is this is it just the tank cycleing?

Thanks perren.

Yep, that is just part of the process - nothing to worry about at this stage. Your set-up sounds fine - the only thing you have to be mindful of is not restricting waterflow to the return pumps which can lead to cavitation and bubbles - in your case that means not letting the black sponge block (I've got rid of mine altogether).

as an aside, while the likes of rowaphos is very good (at least it has been for me) most phosphate removers have a tendency to stip your kH pretty quick. measure your alkalinity with a test kit and increase kH with baking soda mixed with RODI water. roughly speaking, 1tspn will raise 190 litres by 1kH. maintain kH at around 7-10