Nitrate factory

[MasterBlaster]

My filtration on my 46 gal reef consists of; LR, refugium(DSB, Caulapera), Bak-Pak skimmer, and a hang-on pwr filter(300-400gph)

I am worried that the filter elements in the pwr filter could become a nitrate fac due to the fact that they take a long time(30-45 days) before they require cleaning.

Am I overreacting?

[Reefland]

If you are utilizing a skimmer and a refugium with a DSB and macro algae for filtration, why even bother with the hang on unit? If it is for water circulation then I would pick up a power head instead. If you don't clean the media frequent enough, you are taking a chance for waste to accumilate and therefore leading to some excess nitrate. If you want to keep the unit running that would be fine but I would remove any media and use it strictly for water circulation.

Regards,
Scott Z.