No Algae? How Is This Possible?

sundog101 · Mar 17, 2017

In Mike Peletta's "Tank Parameters of Some Masters" article not one of the tanks mentioned has undetectable nutrients. In fact some are quite high. And not one tank has algae (at least not to the point it's a problem).

My question is- how is this possible?

If there is inorganic p04 showing up in tests, it's freely available for algae to use to my understanding. Throw in the n03 and everything else that's needed and no algae? What is stopping it?

Will algae not grow to the point that all available resources are used up?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-parameters-of-some-masters.295215/

SPR1968 · Mar 17, 2017

sundog101 said:
In Mike Peletta's "Tank Parameters of Some Masters" article not one of the tanks mentioned has undetectable nutrients. In fact some are quite high. And not one tank has algae (at least not to the point it's a problem).

My question is- how is this possible?

If there is inorganic p04 showing up in tests, it's freely available for algae to use to my understanding. Throw in the n03 and everything else that's needed and no algae? What is stopping it?

Will algae not grow to the point that all available resources are used up?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-parameters-of-some-masters.295215/

I was going to ask this exact question which doesn't seem to have been answered in the article, albeit a brilliant write up.

I still learning all this stuff and battling nitrate and phosphate down and now.... I don't know what to think.. I have bit of hair algea although I'm winning.

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts on this?

Peanut · Mar 17, 2017

yes! and whenever you ask someone whose tank is full of algae what their tests are at, no3 andpo4 are always zero

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 17, 2017

sundog101 said:
In Mike Peletta's "Tank Parameters of Some Masters" article not one of the tanks mentioned has undetectable nutrients. In fact some are quite high. And not one tank has algae (at least not to the point it's a problem).

My question is- how is this possible?

If there is inorganic p04 showing up in tests, it's freely available for algae to use to my understanding. Throw in the n03 and everything else that's needed and no algae? What is stopping it?

Will algae not grow to the point that all available resources are used up?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-parameters-of-some-masters.295215/

Algae can easily be limited by herbivores (such as rabbitfish), or by other limiting factors, such as low iron.

In my case, a foxface was able to take out all of the caulerpa that ran wild in my display.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 17, 2017

Peanut said:
yes! and whenever you ask someone whose tank is full of algae what their tests are at, no3 andpo4 are always zero

Well, that's a bit of hyperbole. lol

SPR1968 · Mar 17, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Algae can easily be limited by herbivores (such as rabbitfish), or by other limiting factors, such as low iron.

In my case, a foxface was able to take out all of the caulerpa that ran wild in my display.

Is the Fox Face Reef safe in general?

I had one in a smaller tank when I first started out and it picked at corals or a bubble Coral in particular and killed it. I was very new to reefing (only 2 months in) but had to dismantle tank virtually to catch him and have been weary since. I may have panicked early though as the coral was £85! Not $

Joshky · Mar 17, 2017

SPR1968 said:
Is the Fox Face Reef safe in general?

I had one in a smaller tank when I first started out and it picked at corals or a bubble Coral in particular and killed it. I was very new to reefing (only 2 months in) but had to dismantle tank virtually to catch him and have been weary since. I may have panicked early though as the coral was £85! Not $

Generally speaking they're reef safe, the smaller aquarium may have had something to do with it due to lack of grazing possibilities and perhaps a bad diet in general.

As a side statement, the euro to dollar conversion is pretty much the same these days.

sundog101 · Mar 17, 2017

So unless something is restricting or the limiting the growth, algae will consume the nutrients?

GoVols · Mar 17, 2017

Peanut said:
yes! and whenever you ask someone whose tank is full of algae what their tests are at, no3 andpo4 are always zero

That's because their using API.

Seriously:
I had hair algae on my old live rock for months but no where else. My hanna checker showed phos was in check. Well my old live rock was leaching phos and the hair algae was holding in the leaching phos and not letting the phos get in the water column. Thus tricking the hanna checker. So I started tumbling GFO in it's own reactor and within two weeks the hair algae was gone and has never returned.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 17, 2017

SPR1968 said:
Is the Fox Face Reef safe in general?

I had one in a smaller tank when I first started out and it picked at corals or a bubble Coral in particular and killed it. I was very new to reefing (only 2 months in) but had to dismantle tank virtually to catch him and have been weary since. I may have panicked early though as the coral was £85! Not $

Mine was no issue, but I wouldn't put one in a small tank and can't guarantee all individuals are as perfect as mine.

Shaun Sweeney · Mar 17, 2017

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the "Sr" element is in the master's test series. Anybody?

Macdaddynick1 · Mar 17, 2017

Count the tangs, also coraline outcompetes any algae if given good conditions.

Here is my tank with the tang, trochus snails and tuxedo . I usually go a month without cleaning the front glass. About 2 months difference. The front glass here was not cleaned for a week or two at least

And here is my tank without those guys. Also I stopped feeding the tank as much, because I only had 2 clowns and a damsel left.

P.S I think Sr means Strontium

GoVols · Mar 18, 2017

Macdaddynick1 said:
Sr means Strontium

+1

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 18, 2017

Shaun Sweeney said:
I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the "Sr" element is in the master's test series. Anybody?

lol

Sr is strontium.

I'd personally ignore it as I consider it totally unimportant to maintain.

Flippers4pups · Mar 18, 2017

Why no algae? Well that's a loaded question. Understand that these "Masters" have a tremendous amount of coral and fish in their systems and their systems are mature. With that said and in the simplest terms, these animals need to eat and their uptake of nutrients can and will out compete simple algaes.

That is not the whole story: consistent husbandry practices, water changes, water testing and adjusting/dosing, dosing of required elements and amino acids, proper flow, proper lighting, proper feeding of the system and proper amounts of food, kinds of food......... you get what I'm saying.

It's about husbandry practices and balance with water chemistry and nutrient input and out take. This isn't always easy to learn and can take sometime, or years for new reef keepers to nail down. There is no "Secret Sauce" you can add, because that "Secret Sauce" is you.

wattson · Mar 18, 2017

Shaun Sweeney said:
I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the "Sr" element is in the master's test series. Anybody?

Strontium

sundog101 · Mar 18, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
Why no algae? Well that's a loaded question. Understand that these "Masters" have a tremendous amount of coral and fish in their systems and their systems are mature. With that said and in the simplest terms, these animals need to eat and their uptake of nutrients can and will out compete simple algaes.

I know about competition for nutrients, but what I'm saying is that there is freely available n03 and p04 in the water. I assume that these tanks have plenty of nutrient export, but there is still "leftover" nutrients. If it's low enough does algae not take it up? And what stops algae from consuming the "leftover" nutrients until they reach zero?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 18, 2017

sundog101 said:
I know about competition for nutrients, but what I'm saying is that there is freely available n03 and p04 in the water. I assume that these tanks have plenty of nutrient export, but there is still "leftover" nutrients. If it's low enough does algae not take it up? And what stops algae from consuming the "leftover" nutrients until they reach zero?

Organisms cannot generally store large amounts of one type of nutrient. They most often take up what they need in the proportions needed to make more tissue.

sundog101 · Mar 19, 2017

Ok Ive been thinking some more haha. A lot of you guys have mentioned herbivores. You hear over and over "don't add something just to fix an algae problem" and "it's just a bandaid." However if you have good nutrient export is this a good way to go?

Shaun Sweeney · Mar 19, 2017

GoVols said:
+1

Thank you. That was my guess but I wanted to be sure. I've got the test kit and have monitored on a hit and miss basis. Might get a little more serious about it now.