The nutrient balancing act...

[*HOVA*]

I've had my Red Sea Reefer 525 setup for a couple years now. I started with dry base rock from marco which is now heavily covered with coraline but is also starting to get covered with tufts of green hair algae. It comes off really easily but it also comes back very easily... My phosphates were over .12 a couple months ago but I've managed to get them to .05 just by cutting back on feeding with no other measures in place and my nitrates were undetectable until I started dosing about a month ago with potassium nitrate. I use Salifert test kits and I checked Friday and the solution is just barely pink when looking through the side as opposed to straight down per the test instructions.

My question is what balance should I be looking for in these numbers IE Phosphate .05 Nitrate .05 ETC.? Do I need to dose my nitrate to get that up to a readable value? I'm guessing it's not quite that easy but will get me to a better equilibrium and hopefully get things back in line...

 

[*HOVA*]

 

[*HOVA*]

Anybody?...

 

[Nano sapiens]

As long as you consistently have some PO4 and NO3, you should be fine. An acceptable starting point would be around .03 PO4 and 2-3 NO3, but many fine tanks have different ranges. People get in trouble going way low...or way high.

Algae can and does grow well in low nutrient systems, too. It is best controlled by two main things; competition for space/resources and herbivores. Live rock covered by corals and coralline algae makes it hard for algae to get a toehold. A varied compliment of grazers should held keep it in check.

If you intend to keep a lot of open space between corals like you have now, you'll need a very effective CUC.

You mentioned that the tank is a few years old. Does it have a sand bed? If so, do you clean it at all or just let it be? Excess detritus buildup typically leads to conditions that degrade a system and favor algae proliferation.

 

[YankeeTankee]

Like nano said, consistency is key. I have seen tanks with very high nutrients and no algae problems. Different parameters can work in different tanks as their makeup is unique and that's not totally understood. Personally I like PO4 around 0.08 and NO3 around 5. Just be careful not to bottom out PO4.

 

[PatW]

I run my phosphate at about .03 ppm or a bit higher. I try to avoid getting 0. Corals don’t seem to like that. My phosphate reading bounce around some.

My nitrate readings are pretty consistent. I keep mine at 1.5 ppm. Like phosphate, I avoid 0 readings. But for some reason nitrate is far more constant.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Like nano said, consistency is key. I have seen tanks with very high nutrients and no algae problems. Different parameters can work in different tanks as their makeup is unique and that's not totally understood. Personally I like PO4 around 0.08 and NO3 around 5. Just be careful not to bottom out PO4.

True, there are still some real mysteries in reef keeping.

For reference, my small older system typically runs PO4 'undectable' to .01 ppm and NO3 4 ppm.

What I am looking forward to in the not so far future is a much better understanding of how a system's microorganism composition influences the overall condition.

 

[*HOVA*]

What’s the best CUC you guys find? I have all these snails and they are never on my rocks always the glass. I picked up some scarlet hermits and I’m also getting some small urchins because everything is encrusted and I don’t need to worry about them picking up frags.

 

[YankeeTankee]

Trochus fan here

 

[*HOVA*]

I’ve got loads. They avoid rocks like the plague lol

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Mexican turbo snails are all I keep

 

[blitzkragz]

A starry blenny will take big chomps out of that algae.

 

[Scorpius]

Trochus snails. They live for years and years.

 

[Neoalchemist]

I'm a fan of the urchins. Just make sure they have some debris to collect to wear and protect themselves. Many fish will pick at thier soft tube feet and if they feel protected they will feel free to do thier work.