Clean up Crews and Nutrient Spikes

[BigRed78]

Hello everyone! Every once in a while when I am thinking about my reef tank and the problems iv'e had with it I always try to think of the cause even after I have fixed it. I was thinking about how most people struggle with algae when they first get into the hobby. It is common knowledge that overstocking cleanup crew to elemental algae is just a band aid. Removing the issue such as nutrients first should be the priority. I followed this advise but I think I fell into a pitfall and I am going to assume I am not the only one. Whenever I would reduce the nutrients through export I would never increase it enough. I was new at the hobby and still figuring out how to properly maintain this. However after I attempted to correct the issue I always purchased a few more inverts to clean up the excess algae. I always wound up with excess nutrient spikes after. It is my understanding that all the undesirable algae suck up all these nutrients to grow. So when these critters ate the algae and then "processed" it, wouldn't this just release most of the excess nutrients back into the tank? I could be wrong but I was wondering if anyone with more knowledge could tell me if my information is correct. This could have been discussed before but I have not seen it.

 

[moz71]

I am no expert and thought the same but I believe the snails / invert waste would them be picked up by skinner but I could be wrong.

 

[bjc451]

Brs had a video I watched about this. 400 tiny mouths to feed then they die adding more nutrients fueling the algae. Someone can link it