Bubble algae explosion - 0 Nitrate

[RyanSweet]

I used vibrant, and got two blue tuxedo urchins when I was having bubble algae issues. That was 7yrs ago and I haven’t seen any bubble algae since then. Still have the two urchins but haven’t used vibrant for a long time

 

[KellyRenee]

Test kits can only detect inorganic sources not organic sources. So you really only have 0 ppm inorganic sources of nitrate. The measured amount still only is the excess amount not how much is getting used versus how much is getting generated.

I recommend dosing nitrates to help prevent a dino bloom. Bubble algae will be eaten by rabbit fish if your tank is big enough to house one. I have also heard Vibrant works but can sometimes take a few months.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I used vibrant, and got two blue tuxedo urchins when I was having bubble algae issues. That was 7yrs ago and I haven’t seen any bubble algae since then. Still have the two urchins but haven’t used vibrant for a long time

Vibrant effective on bubble and hair algae

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a bubble algae outbreak an I’m not sure why....

My parameters
Phosphate 0.05 (Hanna)
Nitrate 0 (Red Sea pro)
Calcium 400 (Red Sea)
Alkalinity 11.2 (Red sea)

I know 0 nitrates isn’t really 0 nitrates but it’s still really low... what’s the bubble algae feeding off of?

ive been purposely trying to keep the tank a little dirties because I read corals don’t generally like a 0 nutrient tank but as you can see even letting it go a bit the nutrients are still low...

any advice?

Your tank appears new and Will have low to no nitrates. Once a bioload is created by fish and fish waste, it will increase. Adding nitrates to a new tank is in essence chasing numbers and once a load is added to tank with feeding, etc, it could get elevated.

 

[lapin]

@KellyRenee
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