ICP for algae. Scratching my head

[Semisonyx]

I’ve been hard pressed to ever make a correlation between high nutrients and algae issues as long as there is coral to compete for nutrients and appropriate husbandry to prevent/remove algae. Better said; amp up your CUC, manual removal, and possibly look into fluconazole if the algae is a strain it will work on.

 

[Jekyl]

My nitrate is above 50 right now. Tested for the first time in months. Coral and nems don't show any signs of issue. Also don't have algae anywhere in the tank. Algae seems to come and go. Sometimes it seems parameters don't have anything to do with it.

 

[asaharan]

If your phosphates are showing that high 1ppm, with high algae as you say, then you are having phosphates way higher than that as your nuisance algae is consuming it as fast as it can and even after that leaves you with 1ppm in the water column. High phosphates get into the rock and allow for the algae to be firmly attached. To bring it down try considering lanthanum though try to dose it carefully so as to not shock your bio load with sudden drop in phosphates while you try to find the root cause.

 

[Dan_P]

I’ve been hard pressed to ever make a correlation between high nutrients and algae issues as long as there is coral to compete for nutrients and appropriate husbandry to prevent/remove algae. Better said; amp up your CUC, manual removal, and possibly look into fluconazole if the algae is a strain it will work on.

Agree with this ^^^

 

[Spare time]

Last time I checked phosphate and nitrate with Hanna.

Phosphate is at 1.0 ppm on august 11 at 9:05 am
Nitrate 4.2 ppm on august 11 at 9:09 am

The tank is a transfer from my 5 year old system.

I'd be most concerned about phosphate at 1ppm. That is considered extremely high (not sure which test kit is being used though). Typically algae is limited by predation, but 1ppm is likely a big issue here, as I suspect there is no competition for phosphate which I would guess to help the algae grow with ease

 

[Lavey29]

My nitrate is above 50 right now. Tested for the first time in months. Coral and nems don't show any signs of issue. Also don't have algae anywhere in the tank. Algae seems to come and go. Sometimes it seems parameters don't have anything to do with it.

Each tank is unique but elevated nitrates do not seem to trigger nuisance algae like elevated phosphate can in new tanks. Older mature tanks seem not to be bothered by either typically but they have the biome to manage it effectively also.

 

[Miami Reef]

If your phosphates are showing that high 1ppm, with high algae as you say, then you are having phosphates way higher than that as your nuisance algae is consuming it as fast as it can and even after that leaves you with 1ppm in the water column. High phosphates get into the rock and allow for the algae to be firmly attached. To bring it down try considering lanthanum though try to dose it carefully so as to not shock your bio load with sudden drop in phosphates while you try to find the root cause.

I’ve been trying to say this over and over again!

If your nutrients are low enough to suppress algae, it’s low enough to allow dinos to take over.

Heck, I’ve keep my tank ULNS (po4 0.01-0.03ppm) with many feedings throughout the day and I still get very good algae growth.

 

[Spare time]

Each tank is unique but elevated nitrates do not seem to trigger nuisance algae like elevated phosphate can in new tanks. Older mature tanks seem not to be bothered by either typically but they have the biome to manage it effectively also.

Yeah I never think algae is nitrogen limited as long as the tank has fish

 

[Reef Labs Inc]

Hey y'all,

Well.. Here are the results of an ICP I got done to give me some insight as to why I have so much hair algae growing in my system.

First the display.

The last image is the RO..

Id appreciate any I leads.

I run a turf scrubber..

Thank you!

The results of your ICP test look odd to me. A test result of 0 ppb lithium is highly suspect as lithium is a common contaminant in salt mixes in our industry, as well as many other additives. That aside, your results do show a number of deficiencies in elements that are important for a healthy balance of bacteria. Bacteria are an important factor in balancing the growth of unwanted algae. I see this pattern regularly in test results, and in the majority of cases have seen it improve significantly by correcting the deficiencies. It's not going to change overnight, but correcting trace element deficiencies very often brings about a significant improvement in unwanted algal growth.