Looking for nutrient export options

[ferro]

My tank is currently 9 months old. at 1.5 months I purchased chaeto with pods from reef cleaners. The chaeto was over run with green hair algae and faded out so I removed it. The good thing is that it seeded my tank with pods which are currently thriving! In the mean time I have let the green hair algae grow and I remove it every week or so.

Here is my tank

My sump is here

I have a piece of marine pure on the right side that is covered in algae. I need to protect my protein skimmer from the light as its growing algae as well.

Just curious what I need to do to grow other macro algae that is less messy than green hair algae. It clogs my over flow in my sump and also the sponge filter.

 

[Hitman]

What are your NO3 and PO4 levels?

 

[ferro]

I can't detect NO3 unless my kit is messed up and PO4 was .02 the best i could tell on the test. The color didn't quite match the wheel. I have not been good about testing today was the first time I have tested in 5 months.

 

[Subsea]

IMO, you need to increase your nitrate so that Chaeto can grow. As a generalization, nuisance algae
(soft & fleshy) requires less nitrate than utilitarian algae like Chaetomorphy.

When I grew editable algae for human consumption, the dry analysis of three popular macros: Red Grapes, Red Ogo & Green Grapes (Bortacladia, Gracilaria Parvispora, Caulerpa racemosa) had a 30:1 ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus.

 

[Hitman]

You need to get your NO3 up to 5 ppm to balance it out. Some people use stump remover to do that. Hopefully one of them can step in and say how.

 

[Subsea]

You need to get your NO3 up to 5 ppm to balance it out. Some people use stump remover to do that. Hopefully one of them can step in and say how.

With > 2000G and numerous systems, I use 1ml of ammonia for every 10G of system every day.

 

[Hitman]

With > 2000G and numerous systems, I use 1ml of ammonia for every 10G of system every day.

That has nothing to do with raising NO3. That feeds bacteria that lowers NO3 and PO4. He needs to raise NO3.

 

[Subsea]

That has nothing to do with raising NO3. That feeds bacteria that lowers NO3 and PO4. He needs to raise NO3.

Chemistry 101

Nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, then nitrite is converted to nitrate. Nitrate is NO3

 

[Hitman]

Chemistry 101

Nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, then nitrite is converted to nitrate. Nitrate is NO3

And the part of that is? Yep the bacteria consumes the NO3 which lowers the NO3 which is not what he needs.

 

[Subsea]

And the part of that is? Yep the bacteria consumes the NO3 which lowers the NO3 which is not what he needs.

I don’t think we are on the same page. How do you think the nitrate (potassium nitrate) in stump remover is processed by bacteria?

PS: In a conversation that I had with @Randy Holmes-Farley, he indicated that he expected bacteria to consume nitrate & phosphate in the same ratio as macro 30:1.

PSS: Unless OP needs more potassium, I see ammonia as a pure source of nitrate.

 

[Hitman]

I would never recommend adding Ammonia to a tank let alone a tank that has not even matured as he stated the tank is only about 9 months old. That alone by a hobbiest could cause a complete tank crash.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...-as-simple-as-you-think-the-ideal-tank-cycle/

 

[Hitman]

Also my understanding is stump remover is more so nh4 and not nh3. And we all know nh3 is deadly! I may be totally wrong on that though.

NH3 : Ammonia
NH4 : Ammonium

 

[ferro]

I think the reason my N03 and phosphates are so low is because I have so much hair algae growing in the bottom consuming everything. I am going to try to remove 1/2 the hair algae first to see if I can get nutrients to rise a little. I don't like the idea of putting ammonia in my tank. I will have to look into stump remover and do some research on that. Is chaeto the best route? May want to try something that I can feed my tang as well.

 

[Hitman]

There are several great macros out there you can use and feed your Tangs. Dragons Tounge and Red Gracilaria are just 2 of the popular ones but there's many out there to serve that purpose.

 

[rkpetersen]

I think the reason my N03 and phosphates are so low is because I have so much hair algae growing in the bottom consuming everything. I am going to try to remove 1/2 the hair algae first to see if I can get nutrients to rise a little. I don't like the idea of putting ammonia in my tank. I will have to look into stump remover and do some research on that. Is chaeto the best route? May want to try something that I can feed my tang as well.

I'd remove all of it. Continue feeding well and keep an eye on nitrate and phosphate levels. When they come up a bit, add a fresh batch of chaeto. Keep a close eye on it as it gets established, removing any GHA that appears as much as possible. Also add fresh batches of one or two other slow growing macros at the same time, those mentioned above and ulva sea lettuce is also an option, in case your chaeto crashes again in the future.

 

[falc]

I started using Ulva lactusa, it grows good in my sump and the fish love it as a snack! Pods love it too!

 

[cracker]

Hello Ferro , 1st please don't put ammonia in the tank ! I can see how Su gets No3 however there other much easier ways to do it !
This same thing happened to me . A ton of HA & chaeto just melted. I started dosing Stump remover (just a little" ) I did clean out all the Ha I could. HA disappeared & the chaeto took off. So far any algae type grows in the refugium & not the display .

@falc I picked up some Ulva somewhere & have a little growing in my sump. Your right the fish do like it .

 

[ferro]

Seems a lot of places are out of chaeto and the ones that do don't have another macro algae that I want to add. I removed a majority of the GHA leaving a little bit to repopulate while I watch my N03 levels. How long will it take to see an increase? Once I can order all the algae and some pods at the same time I will remove it all and do the swap as suggested.

 

[Subsea]

Hello Ferro , 1st please don't put ammonia in the tank ! I can see how Su gets No3 however there other much easier ways to do it !
This same thing happened to me . A ton of HA & chaeto just melted. I started dosing Stump remover (just a little" ) I did clean out all the Ha I could. HA disappeared & the chaeto took off. So far any algae type grows in the refugium & not the display .

@falc I picked up some Ulva somewhere & have a little growing in my sump. Your right the fish do like it .

I agree with other methods being safer than ammonia, but not necessarily easier. It is very easy to control dose ammonia. After doing it for 30 years, I have not had any problems.

Ulva will outgrow Chaeto given the same parameters. While I have not had it analyzed, as I did with Red Ogo, I suspect it will consume more nitrogen than 30:1 ratio of N to Phosphorus. Perhaps @AlgaeBarn can comment to this.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I agree with other methods being safer than ammonia, but not necessarily easier. It is very easy to control dose ammonia. After doing it for 30 years, I have not had any problems.

Ulva will outgrow Chaeto given the same parameters. While I have not had it analyzed, as I did with Red Ogo, I suspect it will consume more nitrogen than 30:1 ratio of N to Phosphorus. Perhaps @AlgaeBarn can comment to this.

We tend to see its consumes phosphates in a higher ratio than 30:1, but we haven't been the best about keeping logs for our growth and we haven't had an analysis done. We are getting some new reactors in the very near future and we are currently implementing a better data management system there. Macroalgae can be kind of funky with the resulting nitrate/phosphate ratio, a lot of macroalgae go through a hording/ "rapid nutrient uptake" phase to store nitrates and phosphates in case there is a shortage in the future which allows it to keep growing.

With regards to dosing ammonia, if you are running in an isolated reactor, its pretty easy, and some macroalgae grow faster with ammonia than with nitrate (a lot of plants have to reduce nitrate into ammonia within the cell). If you know what your doing, dosing ammonia to a reef tank can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it for 99% of people in the hobby. If you overdose, your dosing pump fails to turn off, if you mix up the wrong concentration, you have an inaccurate scale, etc, you can kill your tank pretty easy. I wouldnt worry about dosing extra sodium or potassium in the form of sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate if you are trying to raise your nitrates. Both can be obtained in food grade for a very reasonable cost.