Being old school and back in the hobby in always went for as sterile nitrate free environment I could. Of course the consensus seems different now. I've had a nitrate level almost to 80 and introduced Bioplastics to bringing down, which it has. My question is if i use it to maintain a lower nitrate level and still getting green algae on the glass can I assume the nitrate level I have it at are high enough to promote growth without killing stuff with too high of levels?
Sterile vs nitrate trace
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Id not be looking at nitrate levels for algae growth myself. Id be more concerned about what my phosphates were reading. But in all seriousness, I try to keep my nitrates as close to 0 as I can, by dosing vodka.
I use SeaKlear to keep my phosphates at 0. But imo thats what would more than likely cause you algae issues than would high nitrates.
I use SeaKlear to keep my phosphates at 0. But imo thats what would more than likely cause you algae issues than would high nitrates.
mcarroll
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Sabunim88
First, I think your logic is correct....a little green algae indicates a healthy (or at least balanced) environment IME. Too clean is not good.
However, in a functional reef nitrogenous waste accumulation should not be an issue as the bio-filter is actually capable of reducing them to gaseous nitrogen which will leave the tank during aeration. By extension, this means if you see excessive accumulation (80 ppm qualifies) you, in a very basic way, do not have a functional reef. Either food inputs are well in excess of the size of the tank (possibly due to having too many inhabitants), or there's not enough flow and/or live rock. One pound per gallon of rock is almost always more than enough - most people end up with too much rock - so the problem is usually with the other factors. Flow or food.
As R.M. alluded above, phosphates may be your ultimate concern. Nitrates and phosphates make up almost all of the important parts of the food you add to the tank. Nitrates can be dealt with, as I said, but phosphates are much more persistent. A band-aid solution for nitrates (like bio-pellets) will do little to nothing for phosphates. Phosphates alone are enough to drive an algae or cyano problem.
The best answer is to find out why you are having such bad nutrient accumulation and solve that problem. I don't recommend putting a lot of money or effort into bandaids like GFO or bio-pellet reactors.
-Matt
First, I think your logic is correct....a little green algae indicates a healthy (or at least balanced) environment IME. Too clean is not good.
However, in a functional reef nitrogenous waste accumulation should not be an issue as the bio-filter is actually capable of reducing them to gaseous nitrogen which will leave the tank during aeration. By extension, this means if you see excessive accumulation (80 ppm qualifies) you, in a very basic way, do not have a functional reef. Either food inputs are well in excess of the size of the tank (possibly due to having too many inhabitants), or there's not enough flow and/or live rock. One pound per gallon of rock is almost always more than enough - most people end up with too much rock - so the problem is usually with the other factors. Flow or food.
As R.M. alluded above, phosphates may be your ultimate concern. Nitrates and phosphates make up almost all of the important parts of the food you add to the tank. Nitrates can be dealt with, as I said, but phosphates are much more persistent. A band-aid solution for nitrates (like bio-pellets) will do little to nothing for phosphates. Phosphates alone are enough to drive an algae or cyano problem.
The best answer is to find out why you are having such bad nutrient accumulation and solve that problem. I don't recommend putting a lot of money or effort into bandaids like GFO or bio-pellet reactors.
-Matt
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