nutrient increase question

[e34stx]

hi everyone,
i have a question regarding increasing nutrients. so basically i have noticed my nutrients are on the low side so i have been slowly dosing no3 and po4 to elevate them. my question is since i have been dosing i have started to get a fair bit of brown algae which i would like to keep under control. how can i prevent the algae building up and still maintain nutrients? i realise the no3 and po4 is consumed by the algae most likely faster than the corals uptake it, but i run fears if i dont keep the nutients elevated the corals will starve.
thanks in advance!

 

[Spare time]

What level of nitrate and phosphate are you aiming for?


Also, do you know what type of algae you are seeing? Some algae is very normal and required as if you can't grow algae, you can't grow corals

 

[e34stx]

Hi normally my po4 is really low so aiming for 0.04-0.08 my no3 is around 4ppm. The algae is generally a brown thick dusty texture that feels slippery to the touch. It covers my back wall glass and base(bRe bottom. The tank is 3yrs old.. when ever I do this the aglae floods everywhere.
Thanks

What level of nitrate and phosphate are you aiming for?


Also, do you know what type of algae you are seeing? Some algae is very normal and required as if you can't grow algae, you can't grow corals

 

[mdb_talon]

hi everyone,
i have a question regarding increasing nutrients. so basically i have noticed my nutrients are on the low side so i have been slowly dosing no3 and po4 to elevate them. my question is since i have been dosing i have started to get a fair bit of brown algae which i would like to keep under control. how can i prevent the algae building up and still maintain nutrients? i realise the no3 and po4 is consumed by the algae most likely faster than the corals uptake it, but i run fears if i dont keep the nutients elevated the corals will starve.
thanks in advance!

In my opinion overfeednng fish(or getting more fish/inverts/etc) is a better option than direct nutrient dosing for this reason. Basically it gives you a time delay gradual release of additional nutrients. Of course if you are using a doser you may be doing the same thing but just a thought...

 

[e34stx]

Ok thanks i will increase the feeding and see what happens. Thanks

In my opinion overfeednng fish(or getting more fish/inverts/etc) is a better option than direct nutrient dosing for this reason. Basically it gives you a time delay gradual release of additional nutrients. Of course if you are using a doser you may be doing the same thing but just a thought...

 

[Spare time]

Hi normally my po4 is really low so aiming for 0.04-0.08 my no3 is around 4ppm. The algae is generally a brown thick dusty texture that feels slippery to the touch. It covers my back wall glass and base(bRe bottom. The tank is 3yrs old.. when ever I do this the aglae floods everywhere.
Thanks

If its dusty, it sounds a bit like diatoms which usually seem to pop up in you have a lot of silicate. How fast does it appear? Having to wipe the glass 2 or 3 times a week is pretty normal if that's the case.

 

[Lavey29]

Feeding corals with reef roids or oyster feast will boost numbers as will increased fish feeding. What is the tank size? How many fish? Do you have a diverse clean up crew? You can cut lights back to maybe 8 hours with blue and UV and it will help slow down algae till your crew gets ahead of it.

 

[e34stx]

Feeding corals with reef roids or oyster feast will boost numbers as will increased fish feeding. What is the tank size? How many fish? Do you have a diverse clean up crew? You can cut lights back to maybe 8 hours with blue and UV and it will help slow down algae till your crew gets ahead of it.

If its dusty, it sounds a bit like diatoms which usually seem to pop up in you have a lot of silicate. How fast does it appear? Having to wipe the glass 2 or 3 times a week is pretty normal if that's the case.

it is dusty mainly on the glass..i have 13 fish in my 120g, few snails shrimp. Nothing touches the glass.my silicates are elevated according to my icp. I’m running silicate removing in my di resin as the ro had high si.

 

[elcapitan1993]

In my opinion overfeednng fish(or getting more fish/inverts/etc) is a better option than direct nutrient dosing for this reason. Basically it gives you a time delay gradual release of additional nutrients. Of course if you are using a doser you may be doing the same thing but just a thought...

You never want to do this, feeding more to get your nutrients higher will have I more negative impact than just dosing no3 and po4, I dose no3 as it is always at 0 and I keep it at 1 ppm and phosphate at 0.03, this dosent seem to feed algae doing it this way, but if you were to “over feed” your algae will get out of control and your sand bed will be a lot dirtier

 

[mdb_talon]

You never want to do this, feeding more to get your nutrients higher will have I more negative impact than just dosing no3 and po4, I dose no3 as it is always at 0 and I keep it at 1 ppm and phosphate at 0.03, this dosent seem to feed algae doing it this way, but if you were to “over feed” your algae will get out of control and your sand bed will be a lot dirtier

Lol thanks for the tip but been doing this many years with great results. Heavy import heavy export is a pretty standard concept in the hobby. Some people with low nutrients feed more.....some dose directly. I feed more.

 

[e34stx]

it is dusty mainly on the glass..i have 13 fish in my 120g, few snails shrimp. Nothing touches the glass.my silicates are elevated according to my icp. I’m running silicate removing in my di resin as the ro had high si.

I’m having to do this daily, if I clean the glass in the morning by 6pm I can see hazing..I run my lights 10:30-20:30 with 1:30 ramp up and down. Thanks

 

[homer1475]

Pics of algae? Or of the entire tank would be better.

Almost sounds like diatoms, or maybe dino's.

 

[e34stx]

Pics of algae? Or of the entire tank would be better.

Almost sounds like diatoms, or maybe dino's.

i will leave it for a day or two so i can get a good photo.

 

[JoeM]

Any updates?

 

[e34stx]

Hi sorry been busy at work so no chance of photos. I have dosed a little vibrant and kept my no3 at 4 and po4 at 0.04..after a week I noticed the algae has slightly subsided. I'm cleaning the glass daily but I'm sure if I was not so anal I could leave it a couple of days before its really needed. Thanks