How Do You Maintain Nitrates Without Triggering Algae Growth?
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zaddy
Community Member
nice setup. Takeaways for me:I feel nitrates and phosphates are only a slice of the pie, and get too much focus.
I have zero herbivorous fish. I have a small cleanup crew for a 75g tank. And I don’t believe they contribute much at all.
My display has no algae issues. But I do have one rock in a rear corner that has hair algae. It never gets better or worse. Just seems to want to grow a certain amount then stops. I’ve plucked and it grows back. I’ve plucked and put snails and hermits directly on the rock. They just leave. It comes back. Then it stays a certain way.
I’ve run my tank at .04 phosphates and 5 nitrates for 1.5 years. I hit .98 phosphate in a spike for a few days. I currently run the tank at .4 phosphate and 10-20 nitrates. Regardless of any of these numbers the outcome is the same. Zero display algae except for the one rock
do you see tons of critters cleaning my sand and glass? I have 10-15 snails tops, probably 5 hermits. In a 75 gallon tank
Not saying that they don’t work for most people, but there is more at play here because I run higher nutrients, have a tiny clean up crew, and my tank does very well. Film algae on glass is all I regularly get
If it matters, I do have a large yellow sponge colony in the display (pic 3) and I do have a cryptic zone in my sump with a few species of sponge as well
- Nitrates/phosphates aren’t the whole story—your sponges and cryptic zone might play a bigger role.
- The hair algae on that one rock seems tied to something specific about it, not overall tank conditions.
- Your minimal cleanup crew working well shows every tank’s balance is unique.
cheers
VintageReefer
10K Club member
They rock must be phosphate bound and it is in a area of low flow
I use an algae scrubber as well as the cryptic zone. I do not do water changes or run a skimmer. I don’t run mechanical filtration either
VintageReefer
10K Club member
Really? I have one on my 15g all in one. They come in all sizes
Fits in middle chamber of my water box
Subsea
7500 Club Member
What algae are you harvesting?Really? I have one on my 15g all in one. They come in all sizes
Fits in middle chamber of my water box
Subsea
7500 Club Member
Do they reproduce in your system?Literally hundreds of stomatella snails.
Reefering1
7500 Club Member
I don't think you could have chosen 2 people that have more different views on how this all works..
Reefering1
7500 Club Member
Algae issues? Why dont more people use algae scrubbers?
When people post about algae issues, most suggestions are to get a clean-up crew (two orders from reefcleaners didn't help me), manual removal (easier said than done and it's not going to remove all of the algae plus it'll probably just grow back), or chemicals (I tried Vibrant and it didn't...
www.reef2reef.com
PotatoPig
Valuable Member
Yep. AFAIK they should reproduce in most tanks that don’t have predators. I got two on different frags a few months ago and now there’s hundreds.
My only complaint about them is I suspect they starved out a couple other gastropods I had in there.
PotatoPig
Valuable Member
Yep. AFAIK they should reproduce in most tanks that don’t have predators. I got two on different frags a few months ago and now there’s hundreds.
My only complaint about them is I suspect they starved out a couple other gastropods I had in there.
Subsea
7500 Club Member
I know nothing about Vintage Reef & Richard Ross methodology except what was posted on this thread. My point was each ran high nitrates & phosphates with stellar results.
I have my own ideas on how this all works and I say,
Viva La difference!
Faurek
Active Member
I can tell you that years ago I had an aquarium so dirty with gfo that I was really ashamed, but corals seemed very happily fed, I let it go until gha overtook corals. Probably the best way to control algae is CUC and balance the input with what the CUC can eat, while making sure corals are fat and happy, not about nutrient levels 100% as long as they are within reason.
Futuretotm
Well-Known Member
interesting read, based on this NOPOX/vodka/vinegar is detrimental to our corals/tanks?Its not so much about the nitrate level, its more about the doc's.
This is an amazing article if you have the time to read it.
DOC is The Most Important Parameter For A Healthy Reef Tank: Here’s a New Method to Manage It | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog
In this article, I will provide an overview of my take on the current zeitgeist of reefing and explain why the entire industry is ignoring a critical aspect of coral care. I will explain what issues…reefbuilders.com
Daz_1978
Active Member
My current Nitrate reading is 32.6 ppm... and that's just slightly above normal for my tank (I got lazy with changing the filter socks). I like the 25 ppm area.
I have to keep my tang in stock with seaweed sheets. I only have to clean the glass about once per week, maybe less. My clean up crew is super small... half a dozen snails & hermits.
The trick for me is to keep the Phosphates in balance. I dose Phosphates (NeoPhos) to keep the N:P ratio at near 100:1. My Phosphates are currently sitting at 0.26, which is a 125:1 ratio.
All of my corals are happy, so I don't stress Nitrates... but I do like to keep them near the 25 ppm area though.
I always had GHA until I started aiming for the 100:1 ratio... And honestly it worked when my Nitrates were 5 ppm and Phosphates were 0.05 ppm, and it works now.
I have to keep my tang in stock with seaweed sheets. I only have to clean the glass about once per week, maybe less. My clean up crew is super small... half a dozen snails & hermits.
The trick for me is to keep the Phosphates in balance. I dose Phosphates (NeoPhos) to keep the N:P ratio at near 100:1. My Phosphates are currently sitting at 0.26, which is a 125:1 ratio.
All of my corals are happy, so I don't stress Nitrates... but I do like to keep them near the 25 ppm area though.
I always had GHA until I started aiming for the 100:1 ratio... And honestly it worked when my Nitrates were 5 ppm and Phosphates were 0.05 ppm, and it works now.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I know some folks may be tiring of reading this, but there's no evidence that an N : P ratio in the water is a useful target measure.
It is sometimes obviously wrong (both too high, both too low, for example) and it is never wrong to simply target both N and P independently to desirable levels. :)
Daz_1978
Active Member
All I know is that I used to have an algae problem...
And once I read about the ratio of 100:1, and started using it as a loose target... I no longer had algae problems. It's been working for me for a pretty long time at various levels of Nitrate & Phosphate. From 5:0.05 to 30:0.3... still working for me.
Is that evidence? Not really, but it works in my tanks. Your results may vary.
There may not be enough evidence for you, but that doesn't mean that there is "no evidence".
Nitrate / Nitrogen - Fauna Marin
www.faunamarin.de
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