Actually, I like the aerated approach as it should be purely algal growth that's taking up the nutrients. In my tank it's stable when aerated.
Actually, I like the aerated approach as it should be purely algal growth that's taking up the nutrients. In my tank it's stable when aerated.
I didn't think about this until just now. For a period of time, on the tank I run an L2 on, there were occasionally chunks of some calcified substance that seemed to be "stuck" in the screen, near the slot pipe. It seemed rather odd to me at the time that something the size of a grain of reef sand (about 2mm) would make it through the pump strainer and get snagged on the screen. I will watch for one of these things. Could that possibly be a buildup of a calcified deposit due to this precipitation, in a week's time? I would also occasionally notice what looked like grains/chunks in the algae mat.
Will definitely keep an eye out for this...
I seem to remember the phrase "Stiff Algae" on a number of threads. Mines lush and soft, like an expensive green carpet.
Scrubbers only borrow bicarbonate. hydroxide is released and forms new bicarbonate on contact with Co2. You should have better growth with more alkalinity. Any loss is due to calcification or precipitation.
Hmmm. I was hunting and pecking around the net. I found this site and this article. Nitrate (NO3) and phosphate (PO4) don’t cause algae. Ammonia does!! Now I know what I'm going to hear in terms of it's supporting evidence, but can one of you more scientifically inclined confirm or deny the idea that ammonia contributes to algal growth? Or that according to the article, ammonia is the driving nutrient for it? Does detritus release ammonia into the water column? Decaying matter does so I assume detritus will as well.
I do have to say, I think we have all seen or heard about very successful tanks where the operator is utilizing a water source other than RO/DI or any type of purified water. I've especially seen tanks from the Far East where the person says they used tap water as it's fed by wells or springs and they don't test it. I've even seen tanks that look very successful where the owner says they don't test for anything. It's probably safe to guess that their tanks have PO4 present and their water supply may very well have it present too.
I guess where I'm going is, more importantly than trying to fight what may be a losing battle with nutrient buildup of NO3 and PO4, better husbandry and better water flow, preventing settling out of particulate matter, are probably the reason these other tanks are not dealing with algal blooms no matter what their other nutrient levels are. The release of ammonia from decay is the real culprit and not necessarily the presence of the other two.
As we increase the number of fish and livestock, feeding goes up and residual foods find their way to places and decay. So ammonia is always being released into the water column.
I guess I need to read Randy's article to get a better understanding of something I thought I understood NH4 could be the culprit and not necessarily PO4.
"It has not been established in a reef aquarium setting, however, what portion of the macroalgae's nitrogen uptake is ammonia and what fraction is nitrate."
From that Randys article
Basically that means no one knows what is what
There's a lot of death and decay in a reef tank. The nitrogen cycle is responsible for breaking down the harmful elements of the cycle, but that still leaves a lot of residual nutrients in it's wake. Then we try to export NO3 to undetectable levels. I know things are happening in anaerobic zones, but that uptake happens in a longer duration of time. In many ways, the water column is the filter and the source, and things die in the anaerobic zone too that need to be exported as well.
I don't know, but for some reason I think we're looking in the wrong direction or at least not seeing the whole picture when just considering PO4 as the reason for macro algae. If you notice, algae thrive in the areas of the tank that have the highest flow. The glass generally has the highest flow as that's where the water is directed. Free ammonia is converted to ammonium because of the PH (my understanding of this) then it's still in the water column until something utilizes it. We test and claim that once ammonia reads zero then the tank has cycled, yet ammonia is always being produced. If we diminish the nitrosomonas bacteria to a certain point, then there's not enough to uptake the ammonium and algae then utilize it. How many times have you read 0N and 0P and someone complaining about algae issues?
I think there's something to this, but I have a very limited knowledge base in this area to understand it LOL
I don't think we are only concerned with phos, it's just that phos and other certain elements can be precipitated out of solution on photosynthesising algae (it seems). Therefore we may be able to increase phos uptake / removal when required.
LOL well snail poop is waste that further decays and releases ammonia into the water column. If it were suspended and then exported out of the tank and the system, then it wouldn't cause algae to grow in that poop spot
I know this is anecdotal, but my first venture into saltwater reef keeping was back in the 1980s. I had a 110g with lot's of leather and polyp corals and a few LPS - actually had a euphyllia grow to massive proportions. Anyway, it was still a fledgling hobby then, so the information was lacking and or being produced and revised often. I was running a plenum with a DSB. Thinking back, the tank never really experienced any sever outbreaks of alga. To boot, I used NYC tap water for everything LOL RO/DI wasn't talked about much then other than to utilize "purified water". There were times I would buy gallons of distilled at the supermarket, but then would get lazy and just use plain old tap water. The tank thrived for almost ten years before a move to a new house and other circumstances caused it to crash. Now I'm not sure whether it was the DSB/plenum combination or the NYC tap water that made it as stable and successful as it was LOL
I missed making my point in this post - NYC tap water = nitrates and phosphates right out of the tap then you have what ever is produced in the tank, yet no appreciable algae presence.
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