I would pass on the sea hair. The tank is too small and if you get one that eats like the one I had it would be out of food in a day. I couldn't keep one fed in a 150 gallon.
Is doing nitrates in a tank with 0 Nitrates and 0 Phosphates with GHA a bad idea?
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Rmckoy
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Those parameters don’t look bad other than the nutrients both being zero .Thought I'd share what I am trying to do. I admit I got sloppy for a while on testing and found out my Alkalinity took a dive. Using the Hannah checker I did find out my Phosphates are at 0. I wonder if that means all the GHA is consuming it really fast.
Algae has been looking bubbly and strange. I wonder if my 0 nitrates and phosphates are making me have Dinos etc. The bubbles aren't in the tank in the morning.
Anyways I am trying this thing from Santa Monica Filtration.
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BRS told me a scrubber wouldn't work on my tank but I wasn't a fan of that answer. So I a two weeks in trying this thing^^^
I only have a little bit of algae growth so far.
For those that don't know how it works it has an LED light on the inside and you put an airline in it where the bubbles flow from the bottom to the top. I figured it is worth a shot.
My tank parameters for those interested...
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0 (salifert. I will get the hannah one when I run out of salifert)
Phosphate - 0 (hannah)
Mg - 1320
Calcium - 440
Alkalinity - 7 (what the heck)
Salinity - 1.027 (what the heck I immediately took some tank water out and replaced with RO)
Salinity is slightly high but I don’t think it’s the issue .
I believe nsw is 1.0265 or 35ppt
I maintain my alkalinity at 7.5 nsw is around 6.5-7.5
is it possible the nutrient test kits are giving inaccurate readings ?
Not dumb at all. I have only used a sea hair once to remove hair algae. Not sure how they would do with algae like nori etc.. The one I had was rather large, and also produced a lot of waste as it was eating. A very interesting creature to watch for sure but I don't think they are suited for nano sized tanks IMO
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DannoOMG
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With all the GHA in the tank. Probably false readings yes. I am removing the GHA all the time. When I first started with the Hannah test kit I was around .04 - .10. Not it has bottomed out. Not sure why. It can't be because of the new scrubber I put in. It barely has algae growing in it.
The tank loos really good. I would be careful about changing too much. When hair algae is growing in the tank, nutrients have to be present. They are just immediately bound in the algae as new growth. The one good thing about that growth is that the nutrients aren't available to create more growth. Adding more nitrate and/or phosphate at this point will simply increase algae growth. You corals are not starving and Dinos are not a great risk as long as the hair algae is present.
Adding things that eat the algae simply releases the bound nutrients from the algae they eat. With nothing else in the tank to compete for these nutrients, that may just feed more algae growth. Don't get me wrong. CUCs have value. They just won't solve your problem.
Manual removal is still your best bet. It not only removes the algae, but exports nutrients bound in it. Speaking of export, a small skimmer might help. I don't know much about small tanks though. I can't recommend a brand/model.
Adding more and larger corals, particularly soft corals, can help. They can compete with the algae by using up free ammonia. An any excuse to get more corals is a bonus!
While your phosphate number looks great, you have to realize though that more is being used by the hair algae. That means that the bioavailable phosphate production in the system is probably much higher. The Reef Roids may be adding quite a bit of phosphate. That may also contribute to the hair algae. I don't even feed my Zoas.
Adding things that eat the algae simply releases the bound nutrients from the algae they eat. With nothing else in the tank to compete for these nutrients, that may just feed more algae growth. Don't get me wrong. CUCs have value. They just won't solve your problem.
Manual removal is still your best bet. It not only removes the algae, but exports nutrients bound in it. Speaking of export, a small skimmer might help. I don't know much about small tanks though. I can't recommend a brand/model.
Adding more and larger corals, particularly soft corals, can help. They can compete with the algae by using up free ammonia. An any excuse to get more corals is a bonus!
While your phosphate number looks great, you have to realize though that more is being used by the hair algae. That means that the bioavailable phosphate production in the system is probably much higher. The Reef Roids may be adding quite a bit of phosphate. That may also contribute to the hair algae. I don't even feed my Zoas.
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DannoOMG
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I haven't put reefroids in my tank for a couple months. Last night I "bread crumbed" my pinky in the bag of reefroids and spot fed some corals (just LPS corals). Thats it. You could barely tell there was any of it in the tank.
Every week I am pulling out clumps of algae. I have a green star polyp in the tank. My "eagle eye" zoanthids are growing fast and taking over the dirtiest rock in the tank.
I was hoping for two montiporas in the tank to take off but the digitata hates my tank cause it is not stable enough. I was hoping that would explode and take up nutrients.
Everything in the tank is growing except: Forrest Fire Digitata, Darth Maul Favite (it eats, it just doesn't grow), Illuminati Zoanthids and my Chalice. I know why my chalice doesn't grow cause my Alkalinity keeps dropping.
SPS and some LPS corals sre hard to keep in a small tank. Stability in general is the main issue. Yea... I know... some people do great... but it is difficult. Soft corals suck up just as much, if not more. They are better suited for small, young tanks. Leathers and Toadstools are not a bad choice.
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