Chaeto, NO3 & PO4

Brian W · Nov 24, 2017

What is the relationship with chaeto (Or any other macro algae) Nitrate & Phosphate?

Does Chaeto remove Nitrate?
Does Chaeto remove Phosphate?

The reason I'm asking is because my NO3 is 0
& my PO4 is very high. According to the Hanna Phosphorus checker it is 0.045.
My Chaeto starts to turn white and real flimsy. I thought it was due to the fact that I put a K essil H380 on my fuge but in the past 6 months I have never been able to grow Chaeto and keep it a dark green healthy color.

Thanks.

reeferfoxx · Nov 24, 2017

Jimmy Lee said:
What is the relationship with chaeto (Or any other macro algae) Nitrate & Phosphate?

Does Chaeto remove Nitrate?
Does Chaeto remove Phosphate?

The reason I'm asking is because my NO3 is 0
& my PO4 is very high. According to the Hanna Phosphorus checker it is 0.045.
My Chaeto starts to turn white and real flimsy. I thought it was due to the fact that I put a K essil H380 on my fuge but in the past 6 months I have never been able to grow Chaeto and keep it a dark green healthy color.

Thanks.

Is cheato the only filtration you have in your tank? How long is the light on for? Any other algae growing in the display?

Much like any plant life, cheato and other macro algae uptake nutrients(no3, po4, fe, co2) and use light for photosynthesis.

Mark Gray · Nov 24, 2017

Jimmy Lee said:
What is the relationship with chaeto (Or any other macro algae) Nitrate & Phosphate?

Does Chaeto remove Nitrate?
Does Chaeto remove Phosphate?

The reason I'm asking is because my NO3 is 0
& my PO4 is very high. According to the Hanna Phosphorus checker it is 0.045.
My Chaeto starts to turn white and real flimsy. I thought it was due to the fact that I put a K essil H380 on my fuge but in the past 6 months I have never been able to grow Chaeto and keep it a dark green healthy color.

Thanks.

Wow mine grows great under the same light

Scott.h · Nov 24, 2017

I wouldn't say your p04 is very high. But have you considered dosing no3?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 25, 2017

I agree the phosphate is not very high, but having more nitrate may be desirable and dosing some may be a good plan. [emoji3]

ChrisOFL · Nov 25, 2017

Chaeto seems to do very well in my tank and I have high nitrates and 0.00 detectable phosphates on Hannah checker. Dosing a bit of iron really makes my algae grow like wild but it also causes me to have turf algae in the display so I dose sparingly (maybe once every three months).

BigHildy53 · Nov 25, 2017

Cheato turning white is usually a sign that the light is too close to the surface. I don't have enough room to raise my H380 as high as it needs to be. So I used a Kessil AP700 major difuser on the H380. No more burn out.

Brian W · Nov 25, 2017

reeferfoxx said:
Is cheato the only filtration you have in your tank? How long is the light on for? Any other algae growing in the display?

Much like any plant life, cheato and other macro algae uptake nutrients(no3, po4, fe, co2) and use light for photosynthesis.

I have LR, skimmer, marine Pure & filter sock.
The light is on reverse of my display light. 10pm - 2pm. There is no other algae in my display. My sump will grow some hair algae I have to clean every 2-4 weeks.
I'm running the Triton method and I'm just concerned that my chaeto is struggling. With the Triton Method macro algae is a main part of the system....so I assume.

sghera64 · Nov 25, 2017

Jimmy Lee said:
Does Chaeto remove Nitrate?
Does Chaeto remove Phosphate?

The reason I'm asking is because my NO3 is 0
& my PO4 is very high. According to the Hanna Phosphorus checker it is 0.045.
My Chaeto starts to turn white and real flimsy..

I wonder if your water lacks iron. I add a little iron (and I2/KI) when my ulva fuge looks a little pale.

Brian W · Nov 25, 2017

Mark Gray said:
Wow mine grows great under the same light

What are your nitrates and phosphates?

Brian W · Nov 25, 2017

Scott.h said:
I wouldn't say your p04 is very high. But have you considered dosing no3?

I have but just haven't bought anything yet. I've been feeding 3-4 times a day for the past 3-4 weeks to try to raise them naturally. Only thing it has done was raise PO4.

Brian W · Nov 25, 2017

BigHildy53 said:
Cheato turning white is usually a sign that the light is too close to the surface. I don't have enough room to raise my H380 as high as it needs to be. So I used a Kessil AP700 major difuser on the H380. No more burn out.

When I first installed it, I put it really close to the water. I have since moved it up and over about 10 inches for my fuge. It still could be too much intensity. Par at the water surface was 1200 according to my seneye pat meter.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 25, 2017

Maybe remove some or all of the Marine Pure. It may be driving nitrate too low.

Brian W · Nov 25, 2017

sghera64 said:
I wonder if your water lacks iron. I add a little iron (and I2/KI) when my ulva fuge looks a little pale.

Iron was 0.00 according to Triton Analysis on 9/29/17.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 25, 2017

Iron will be zero in most cases, except perhaps right after dosing. Triton can’t detect anywhere close to NSW levels.

reeferfoxx · Nov 25, 2017

Jimmy Lee said:
The light is on reverse of my display light. 10pm - 2pm

Is this correct? 16 hours? Ia gree also the marine pure is most likely reducing your nitrates.

pecan2phat · Nov 25, 2017

N03 @ zero is a longterm disaster for SPS.
I kept a non-fish SPS nano-cube @ zero N03 for 12 months and colors paled with moderate bleaching. Since I raised the N03, SPS is very slowly recovering. Playing around between 5 to 10 ppm. Short term observation seems like closer to 10 ppm is showing better results.

Scott.h · Nov 25, 2017

Especially with triton and no water changes you may want to remove that marine pure unless it's a year old or you have a lot of water volume. No better time then running zero nitrates, as your tank doesn't really need it anyway.

Before I started dosing no3 (I do with a dos 2 x a day) I tried the over feeding method. It takes too long doing it that way and makes a mess that brings other issues. But when you do add it, make sure you go slow, even if it takes a few days to be recognizable. It will appear, then the tank will suck it out. It gets frustrating believe me. Then you OD and burn some tips. Just keep your po4 where it is, as you'll find when you start dosing no3 the po4 will lower anyway when it starts to balance. If you don't have undesirable algae in the display I'd leave that po4 there anyway.

With not adding fresh saltwater via water changes, you'll find that macro (and corals). will suck iron clean out of the water. Iron dissipates anyway in salt water on its own. NSW has very low levels but your tank needs it. Randy is right. They can't test accurately at those levels, but I do add iron to my tanks weekly, as well as no3 and po4 daily. You'll figure these things out as far as what your tank consumes without water changes after a few months and tests. To keep the macro (and other things) healthy you have to add some of those things without water changes. That light is great, I have one. It's not the problem. Everything needs nutrients, including macro.

you'll find the core 7 to most likely lack sr and a few other things. I'll attach what I have to add weekly on my two systems to keep up. Both are 100 gal twv. ("Up" stairs, "down" stairs)

reeferfoxx · Nov 25, 2017

Scott.h said:
No better time then running zero nitrates, as your tank doesn't really need it anyway.

The tank may not need nitrates but the corals do. That is what fish are for. I used to dose nitrates, now I just add fish.

Scott.h · Nov 25, 2017

reeferfoxx said:
The tank may not need nitrates but the corals do. That is what fish are for. I used to dose nitrates, now I just add fish.

I meant if he's zero, remove it to help get the numbers up naturally. That's true, but the problem with that program is fish grow. With one system that had the 10 ppm got to 60+. My eel started at 7" and now is 20". It's way easier to manipulate a tank with it understocked then over stocked.