At What PO4/NO3 levels do algae bloom?

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

hello guys, as the title states, at what PO4/NO3 Levels down encounter algae blooms and problems?

What sort of nutrient exports do you guys use for NO3?

And for PO4?

Do any of you guys rely heavily on Mechanical filtration and Biological filtration in order to maintain NO3 and PO4 at optimal levels?

 

[JCM]

There's no set number that causes algae to bloom, I shoot for 10 NO3 and .1 PO4

My live rock, skimmer,and water changes keep nitrates in check but my phosphates tend to slowly creep up. When they hit .25 ish, I throw a small bag of phosgaurd in the sump. It's a super inefficient way to lower them, which I like. I try to avoid large quick changes in anything.

 

[gbroadbridge]

hello guys, as the title states, at what PO4/NO3 Levels down encounter algae blooms and problems?

Whenever they feel like it

What sort of nutrient exports do you guys use for NO3?

And for PO4?

Vinegar dosing for Nitrate, GFO for phosphate.
To keep the coral happy, not primarily for algae control but it helps.

Do any of you guys rely heavily on Mechanical filtration and Biological filtration in order to maintain NO3 and PO4 at optimal levels?

I find UV is the best for keeping Algae under control, together with Tangs , Rabbitfish and CUC.

A Roller Mat filter helps a lot with NO3

 

[Spare time]

Typically, algae shouldn't be limited by nitrogen and phosphate in our tanks, but rather limited by predation. The reason is that in order to grow corals, you need to grow zooxanthellae (an algae). Some things, such as cyano, can get nitrogen from the atmosphere. Others, such as dinos, seem to thrive with 0.00 phosphate. The way I recommend running tanks is to have both nitrate and phosphate low, but detectable
(this usually ends up roughly around a few ppm nitrate and 0.03ppm phosphate give or take a little). I use filter socks and macroalgae to export these. I occasionally dose some heterotrophic bacteria. The fauna in my tank is also a huge sink of these.