sixty_reefer
5000 Club Member
View BadgesArticle Contributor
UK Reef Club Member
Hospitality Award
R2R Research
Views on algae outbreaks what do I think that causes them:
In most situations, we se someone trying to outcompete algae by starving the algae of nutrients both No3 and Po4 were taken to zero in hopes to starve the algae, but instead of dying we see it coming stronger than never.
what is the interpretation of unused residual nutrients telling me wend Nitrogen and Phosphorus are limited. Wend Nitrogen and Phosphorus are limited it means that there is a abundance of Carbon in a tank
How will carbon affect algae:
Most algaes will do they’re own organic carbon from inorganic carbon (co2) but apparently most algaes will be able to use organic carbon in the water to fix they’re own carbon and in addition organic carbon in abundance can promote the ferrous state of iron that apparently is more easily utilised by plants.
in addition I believe that if we don’t have no3 and po4 available our biological filter will start to weaken causing some bacteria to go dormant, if we have less active bacteria in a system that means there will be less bacteria transforming ammonia in to nitrates and as result more ammonia will be available to the algae, most pest algaes will prefer ammonia to nitrates as it’s easier to utilise.
in conclusion, lowering nutrient to try and kill invasive algaes is just creating a perfect environment for algae to thrive. Imo
What could be done to avoid this
situation:
imo if found in this situation I would want to keep my parameters detectable and stable meaning that there wouldn’t be any extra available carbon or ammonia for the algae and my filter would stay strong. With the outbreak under control the addition of herbivores would finish of the job of removing the rest of the algae.
The above is just one of the several ways to make a abundance of carbon in a tank, by interpretation of the unused residual nutrients we can find ways to change the availability of nutrients to avoid algae blooms in closed systems.
lowering no3 and po4 residual unused nutrients is not the only way to increase the availability of organic carbon in the water column, there is other situations that are directly connected to the unused residual nutrients that would make carbon more available.
Cyanobacteria causes and control
How could one use the understanding of residual unused nutrient In a system to try and eradicate Cyanobacteria:
how I understand the behaviour of Cyanobacteria in our systems.
Over the years I’ve always encountered Cyanobacteria in a form or another, in particular wend something dies or there is a imbalance on the nutrients levels. Some of the observation I made was that Cyanobacteria do consume a lot of nutrients wile in a tank it’s not unusual to see no3 and po4 decreasing in a system that is affected by Cyanobacteria, sometimes almost depleting them fully, the more maths of Cyanobacteria I had the fastest the Cyanobacteria would deplete those nutrient. This will leave a system with little to no nutrients available for the beneficial bacteria to carry on their life cycle, as they need nutrients to multiply themselves, if beneficial bacteria finishes its life cycle and it have enough nutrients available to reproduce it self, this will reduce the amount the overall bacteria in a system leaving the Cyanobacteria to dominate a system as it seems that they can assimilate nutrients faster than the beneficial bacteria.
from a quick google most Cyanobacteria could be depleting nutrient in a 301:49:1 rate to C N P
Looking at this ratio it doesn’t surprise me that we do associate Cyanobacteria to carbon dosing as many of us do observe.
with the above thought what would be a way to outcompete Cyanobacteria and re establish healthy colonies of beneficial bacteria, my thoughts would be that by removing the maths from the system wile increasing the Nitrogen and Phosphorus sources available to the system would give the beneficial bacteria a chance to re colonise the system surfaces eventually growing to a number where Cyanobacteria wouldn’t have a chance to have enough nutrients available to them.
Increasing nitrogen and phosphates if needed to limit the growth of Cyanobacteria by becoming carbon limited, this thought would make more sense to me as it’s feeding the nitrifying bacteria that is important and starving the Cyanobacteria as there won’t be enough carbon available to carry on reproducing. Due to their high demand in carbon to stay alive.
In most situations, we se someone trying to outcompete algae by starving the algae of nutrients both No3 and Po4 were taken to zero in hopes to starve the algae, but instead of dying we see it coming stronger than never.
what is the interpretation of unused residual nutrients telling me wend Nitrogen and Phosphorus are limited. Wend Nitrogen and Phosphorus are limited it means that there is a abundance of Carbon in a tank
How will carbon affect algae:
Most algaes will do they’re own organic carbon from inorganic carbon (co2) but apparently most algaes will be able to use organic carbon in the water to fix they’re own carbon and in addition organic carbon in abundance can promote the ferrous state of iron that apparently is more easily utilised by plants.
in addition I believe that if we don’t have no3 and po4 available our biological filter will start to weaken causing some bacteria to go dormant, if we have less active bacteria in a system that means there will be less bacteria transforming ammonia in to nitrates and as result more ammonia will be available to the algae, most pest algaes will prefer ammonia to nitrates as it’s easier to utilise.
in conclusion, lowering nutrient to try and kill invasive algaes is just creating a perfect environment for algae to thrive. Imo
What could be done to avoid this
situation:
imo if found in this situation I would want to keep my parameters detectable and stable meaning that there wouldn’t be any extra available carbon or ammonia for the algae and my filter would stay strong. With the outbreak under control the addition of herbivores would finish of the job of removing the rest of the algae.
The above is just one of the several ways to make a abundance of carbon in a tank, by interpretation of the unused residual nutrients we can find ways to change the availability of nutrients to avoid algae blooms in closed systems.
lowering no3 and po4 residual unused nutrients is not the only way to increase the availability of organic carbon in the water column, there is other situations that are directly connected to the unused residual nutrients that would make carbon more available.
Cyanobacteria causes and control
How could one use the understanding of residual unused nutrient In a system to try and eradicate Cyanobacteria:
how I understand the behaviour of Cyanobacteria in our systems.
Over the years I’ve always encountered Cyanobacteria in a form or another, in particular wend something dies or there is a imbalance on the nutrients levels. Some of the observation I made was that Cyanobacteria do consume a lot of nutrients wile in a tank it’s not unusual to see no3 and po4 decreasing in a system that is affected by Cyanobacteria, sometimes almost depleting them fully, the more maths of Cyanobacteria I had the fastest the Cyanobacteria would deplete those nutrient. This will leave a system with little to no nutrients available for the beneficial bacteria to carry on their life cycle, as they need nutrients to multiply themselves, if beneficial bacteria finishes its life cycle and it have enough nutrients available to reproduce it self, this will reduce the amount the overall bacteria in a system leaving the Cyanobacteria to dominate a system as it seems that they can assimilate nutrients faster than the beneficial bacteria.
from a quick google most Cyanobacteria could be depleting nutrient in a 301:49:1 rate to C N P
Looking at this ratio it doesn’t surprise me that we do associate Cyanobacteria to carbon dosing as many of us do observe.
with the above thought what would be a way to outcompete Cyanobacteria and re establish healthy colonies of beneficial bacteria, my thoughts would be that by removing the maths from the system wile increasing the Nitrogen and Phosphorus sources available to the system would give the beneficial bacteria a chance to re colonise the system surfaces eventually growing to a number where Cyanobacteria wouldn’t have a chance to have enough nutrients available to them.
Increasing nitrogen and phosphates if needed to limit the growth of Cyanobacteria by becoming carbon limited, this thought would make more sense to me as it’s feeding the nitrifying bacteria that is important and starving the Cyanobacteria as there won’t be enough carbon available to carry on reproducing. Due to their high demand in carbon to stay alive.
Last edited: