Over Feeding= Algae?

KevinC · Mar 26, 2021

I have been trying to keep my nitrate at 25. The tanks nitrate hovers around 15-20, There have always been a slight algae issue in the tank. Recently I have upped the feeding from 1 times per day to 3 times a day. Nitrate and phosphate didn't change much to my surprise, but Im worried there there would be a algae outbreak soon with the increased feeding. I do know that over feeding would increase nutrient thus promote algae growth, but can and should i continue to overfeed my tank to achieve my desired result even if its seems like all my nutrient can barely keep up with the over feeding? Would this eventually lead to algae growth?

Imaexpat2 · Mar 26, 2021

Depends on what your trying to achieve...If you want algae in your tank, then feed away. If thats not what you want in your tank then you need to be more specific before we can help you much otherwise we will all be blind folded and throwing darts at a Dart Board so to speak. Your tank is alike a computer hard drive....you can only put so much on it before you max it out. Your tank is the same way. If you adding nutrients to the tank then there needs to be an equal amount of nutrient up take and removal from the system. Without that your water will go south and algae will start to dominate your tank. How fast it goes south depends on a lot of variables.

What size is the tank, what kind of live stock do you have? What sort of clean up crew do you got. What equipment do you have on your tank. How long has it been set up. Whats your maintenance schedule? These are all questions we need answers to before we can even begin to help you.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 26, 2021

Excessive nutrients and excessive algae are different problems.

Excessive nutrients (say, 100 ppm nitrate and 1 ppm phosphate) does not mean an algae problem if there are sufficient herbivores or if algae is kept in check in other ways.

Gtinnel · Mar 26, 2021

Just curious, why is your goal to keep your nitrate level so high?

KevinC · Mar 26, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Excessive nutrients and excessive algae are different problems.

Excessive nutrients (say, 100 ppm nitrate and 1 ppm phosphate) does not mean an algae problem if there are sufficient herbivores or if algae is kept in check in other ways.

Thanks for clarifying that! so in conclusion does that mean I can continue on my 3 days feeding if my nutrient does not overly fluctuate and herbivores keep the algae at bay?

Imaexpat2 said:
Depends on what your trying to achieve...If you want algae in your tank, then feed away. If thats not what you want in your tank then you need to be more specific before we can help you much otherwise we will all be blind folded and throwing darts at a Dart Board so to speak. Your tank is alike a computer hard drive....you can only put so much on it before you max it out. Your tank is the same way. If you adding nutrients to the tank then there needs to be an equal amount of nutrient up take and removal from the system. Without that your water will go south and algae will start to dominate your tank. How fast it goes south depends on a lot of variables.

What size is the tank, what kind of live stock do you have? What sort of clean up crew do you got. What equipment do you have on your tank. How long has it been set up. Whats your maintenance schedule? These are all questions we need answers to before we can even begin to help you.

I have a way over stocked sps dominate frag tank which I have to keep dosing neo-nitro to keep up with the consumed nutrient by my acros. The cost obviously does not add up in long term with dosing neo nitro, thus I have opt for more fish in hopes of providing nutrient for my explosive growing sps.
Im just trying to find the reverse correlation between feeding and algae, As we all have heard before, "if i see algae growing, i will feed less"

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 26, 2021

KevinC said:
Thanks for clarifying that! so in conclusion does that mean I can continue on my 3 days feeding if my nutrient does not overly fluctuate and herbivores keep the algae at bay?

I have a way over stocked sps dominate frag tank which I have to keep dosing neo-nitro to keep up with the consumed nutrient by my acros. The cost obviously does not add up in long term with dosing neo nitro, thus I have opt for more fish in hopes of providing nutrient for my explosive growing sps.
Im just trying to find the reverse correlation between feeding and algae, As we all have heard before, "if i see algae growing, i will feed less"

This tank has nutrients much higher than yours and does not have an algae issue. Exactly why is less clear.

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

reefs.com

Rich’s 150 gallon display, on a 300 gallon system, is running a phosphate level of 1.24 ppm, a level at 24.8 times higher than the often recommended .05 ppm. Photo by Richard Ross.