Does dirty glass always = high nutrients?

[Bam327]

I need to clean my glass nearly every day. If not at least every other day for sure. My nitrates are consistently 1-2 ppm and phosphate is .025. Is there something other than high nutrients that cause this? I read about some of you guys that can tell if your nutrients are creeping up based on how often you need to clean the glass. Thanks.

 

[Hemmdog]

If it’s green and dusts right off it’s most likely phyto, which will grow as long as there is nutrients and light. It feeds pods. It’s good.

 

[X-37B]

I clean mine, light green, every other day and run po4 .02-.06 no3 1-2.

 

[Bam327]

Ah, that explains it. I’m dosing nannochloropsis. Thanks.

 

[ca1ore]

The amount of algae that grows on the front panel is more a function of the amount of light that hits it than some correlation to nutrient levels. The frequency with which you feel obligated to clean it is more about OCD.

 

[brmreefer]

Agree with the Phytoplankton causing the glass to get covered quicker. When I dose phyto heavy, my glass quickly gets a powder coating on it, but is easily brushed off.

BTW, my NO3 is under 5 ppm.

 

[jda]

I have N near .1 and P at 1-3 parts per billion and I can grow algae like crazy without consumers. You do not need much at all. This is not a sign of high nutrients.

 

[Traplord]

I’ve been told that striping water of phosphate will starve your corals

 

[NS Mike D]

I’ve been told that striping water of phosphate will starve your corals

PO4 is essential to life. P is part of life's building blocks RNA and DNA and the O that tags along keep DNA neg charged to stay in its place and the other Os attach to sugar and somehow help with ATP (life energy). I know I got some of this wrong but close enough to say ......

So yeah, without it corals can't grow.

 

[robbyg]

The amount of algae that grows on the front panel is more a function of the amount of light that hits it than some correlation to nutrient levels. The frequency with which you feel obligated to clean it is more about OCD.

Agree as well as flow hitting it. I can see exactly where my return flow hits the glass by increased growth at those spots.

 

[BlueZreef]

I am in the same boat, Nitrates at 2 and Phos at .03. I clean every 3-4 days despite even running UV. If I was more OCD about it I could do it every 2 as it just starts to haze at that point. I did notice I had more algae growth with my daily dose of RE AB+. If I don’t dose RE and feed like crazy my nitrates drop to 0 though so I just keep it up, corals look great so worth the cleaning.

 

[ca1ore]

One ‘solution’ is to set up your lights to minimize what hits the front. Reduces light spill into the room too. I have blanking panels over the first 10” of my tank.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I’ve been told that striping water of phosphate will starve your corals

That it will yes, and cause you other issues of cyano or dino, well that's what happened to me anyway.

 

[McPuff]

Same way in my tank. I clean the glass every 3 days. It's always easy to clean off and the snails seem to love plowing through it. Thankfully that's really the only algae "issue" I've got right now. :0)

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Growth rates are driven by the nitrogen source used and the supply rate of building materials. When using nitrate as a nitrogen source growth rates are slowed down +- x2 x8 depending on the organism using it.
If algae or and other photoautotrophs grow fast they have the availability of ammonia-nitrogen to grow. Increasing the nitrification capacity will slow down photoautotrophic growth. A normal nitrifying biofilm may remove +- 15% of the total nitrogen processed by denitrification which means in total less nitrogen will be available for growth.
A nitrifying bio-filter using a substrate of elemental sulfur for the growing biofilm may remove >80% of total nitrogen processed. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:badess:bades_bio_filter#het_zwavelkolommen_systeem

Increased phosphorus availability does influence coral calcification, the calcification rates are increased if enough CO3 is available. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:chemie:calcificatie

Is has been shown insufficient phosphorus supply will harm corals after a short period of time, insufficient nitrogen supply will harm corrals only after a much longer period.
It has been shown phosphorus starvation is one of the main causes of coral bleaching and dead. It has been shown this occurs during periods of increasing growth rates ( increasing temp or and high DOC availability) supported by high nitrogen availability. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:theorie:koraalverbleking An aquarium may be subject to temperature and DOC fluctuations and changes. I try to keep the nutrient and DOC reserves low but available. To avoid the nutrient reserve may become responsible for phosphorus starvation and phosphorus may become the limiting factor for growth I try to keep the nitrogen reserve low enough, not to exceed 9x the phosphate reserve in weight, which means if 0.2 ppm phosphate max +- 1.8ppm nitrate.

 

[Paul B]

I have to clean my glass every day and I really could clean it twice a day. My nitrates are very low and I don't dose anythng except calk and alk. There is also no light in the room where the tank is and I never feed the corals.

It is what it is.

 

[Silverfish]

Growth rates are driven by the nitrogen source used and the supply rate of building materials. When using nitrate as a nitrogen source growth rates are slowed down +- x2 x8 depending on the organism using it.
If algae or and other photoautotrophs grow fast they have the availability of ammonia-nitrogen to grow. Increasing the nitrification capacity will slow down photoautotrophic growth. A normal nitrifying biofilm may remove +- 15% of the total nitrogen processed by denitrification which means in total less nitrogen will be available for growth.
A nitrifying bio-filter using a substrate of elemental sulfur for the growing biofilm may remove >80% of total nitrogen processed. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:badess:bades_bio_filter#het_zwavelkolommen_systeem

Increased phosphorus availability does influence coral calcification, the calcification rates are increased if enough CO3 is available. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:chemie:calcificatie

Is has been shown insufficient phosphorus supply will harm corals after a short period of time, insufficient nitrogen supply will harm corrals only after a much longer period.
It has been shown phosphorus starvation is one of the main causes of coral bleaching and dead. It has been shown this occurs during periods of increasing growth rates ( increasing temp or and high DOC availability) supported by high nitrogen availability. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:theorie:koraalverbleking An aquarium may be subject to temperature and DOC fluctuations and changes. I try to keep the nutrient and DOC reserves low but available. To avoid the nutrient reserve may become responsible for phosphorus starvation and phosphorus may become the limiting factor for growth I try to keep the nitrogen reserve low enough, not to exceed 9x the phosphate reserve in weight, which means if 0.2 ppm phosphate max +- 1.8ppm nitrate.

As this reefer Drops the Mike

 

[Alistairn1]

I need to clean my glass nearly every day. If not at least every other day for sure. My nitrates are consistently 1-2 ppm and phosphate is .025. Is there something other than high nutrients that cause this? I read about some of you guys that can tell if your nutrients are creeping up based on how often you need to clean the glass. Thanks.

I had same problem until I realised that early afternoon the sun shone straight at my tank for about 2 hours during mid summer! Moved tank location and power heads to gently flow against front glass and problem solved

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It doesn't mean N and P are high. it means they (and other things, such as iron and manganese) are "enough".

Once there is enough, having a hundred times more may not allow for any faster of growth. That is what it means to be a limiting nutrient. Once you meet the limitation, something else is limiting the growth.

People seem to think that algae growth is proportional to nutrients, or something like that. That's not the case. 10 ppm nitrate and 1000 ppm nitrate likely lead to the same growth rate of algae.

I would also add that the algae may actually prefer ammonia to nitrate, and may take up ammonia before it ever becomes nitrate.

 

[PilotOfSubmarines]

Same way in my tank. I clean the glass every 3 days. It's always easy to clean off and the snails seem to love plowing through it. Thankfully that's really the only algae "issue" I've got right now. :0)

Same. It's like a yellow/green powder. One swipe with my magnet cleaner and it dissipates just like flour/powder would. All of my numbers are in check so I don't worry about it, every 2-3 days I give the glass a quick swipe with the magnet cleaner and it's fine.