Nutrition linked to type of algae growth?

Reefer1485 · Jan 16, 2021

Okay so I went on vacation for two weeks over Christmas. Before I went on vacation, I did a 3 gal water change in my 20 gal tank. Nitrate was at .5 and phos was at .07. With these numbers I have a lot of brown algae. I put the tank on a auto feeder and fed once a day with pellets for those two weeks. When I got back all brown algae was gone and then I had green with spots of bright pink and purple coralline frowning on rocks so happy. Checked my Nitrates and they were at 20! Then I checked phos which were at .15 maybe even .2. But everything in the tank looked amazing. Durning that two week time I took out the chem pure blue nano pack and just left the GFO nano pack in which was already two months old. After doing a new water change and put back in the chem pure blue and new GFO pack, the green kind of went away and now the brown is back!! With this being said does it sound like for my tank and setup; .20 nitrates and . 20 phos is the sweet point for my tank?

Quietman · Jan 17, 2021

That's going to be impossible to say. Sounds like your tank liked the higher nutrients for two weeks is about all I'd commit to. But does that mean it'll be happy with higher nutrients for a month or 6 or a year? As a tank matures (I don't know how old it is) the needs can change with growth, type of corals, other fauna.

I will say that those levels aren't THAT high...just higher than normal for what we'd expect and you could run successfully for years there. Then again, you may not.

I'd say consistency matters over exact numbers, gradual change is better than fast, water maintenance/parameters still require diligence even if you keep higher nutrient load and lastly, if the tank looks good and the parameters are within the wide range of normal...enjoy (and continue to watch closely).

Reefer1485 · Jan 17, 2021

Quietman said:
That's going to be impossible to say. Sounds like your tank liked the higher nutrients for two weeks is about all I'd commit to. But does that mean it'll be happy with higher nutrients for a month or 6 or a year? As a tank matures (I don't know how old it is) the needs can change with growth, type of corals, other fauna.

I will say that those levels aren't THAT high...just higher than normal for what we'd expect and you could run successfully for years there. Then again, you may not.

I'd say consistency matters over exact numbers, gradual change is better than fast, water maintenance/parameters still require diligence even if you keep higher nutrient load and lastly, if the tank looks good and the parameters are within the wide range of normal...enjoy (and continue to watch closely).

Okay thanks! . I just know when I got back with those numbers my corals exploded in growth. Haha. Just did a water check my ALK and MAG is down. Not much Po3 and Po4 stayed the same even after a 3 gal water change.