Maridia
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2013
- Messages
- 480
Hello everyone,
I have a question about algae. As some of us know, and know very well, bubble and hair algae are a pain to get rid of.
The way I did it before is manually removing the algae, and also completely taking out one rock at a time to let it dry in the sun for a few days, then clean the crud out of it before putting it back.
Enough beating around the bush. My question is, doesn't some hair algae and some bubble algae have some benefits in a reef tank? Like keeping nitrates low?
I don't know if the algae "masks" nitrate readings or if the algae actually "eats" nitrates.
I have had my reef tank for 3 years and its params are consistent. When I did a gradual cleanup of the algae (took about a month as I didn't want to remove all the rock at once and kill all the beneficial bacteria) and was pretty much algae free, I noticed that my nitrates would hit levels of 15-20ppm before a water change.
I have a busy work schedule,family, and have neglected the algae a bit, but I still keep up with water changes and skimmer cleaning. However, I noticed that now that I have bubble algae and hair algae, my nitrates were at 3-4ppm right before a water change.
As mentioned before, I have had my tank for 3 years and have not changed my stock, feeding habits, or water changes (yes I use rodi 0tds) in at least the last 1 year.
So to ask the question once more, since I've babbled on, does bubble algae and hair algae eat nitrates and is it beneficial in that sense?
I have a question about algae. As some of us know, and know very well, bubble and hair algae are a pain to get rid of.
The way I did it before is manually removing the algae, and also completely taking out one rock at a time to let it dry in the sun for a few days, then clean the crud out of it before putting it back.
Enough beating around the bush. My question is, doesn't some hair algae and some bubble algae have some benefits in a reef tank? Like keeping nitrates low?
I don't know if the algae "masks" nitrate readings or if the algae actually "eats" nitrates.
I have had my reef tank for 3 years and its params are consistent. When I did a gradual cleanup of the algae (took about a month as I didn't want to remove all the rock at once and kill all the beneficial bacteria) and was pretty much algae free, I noticed that my nitrates would hit levels of 15-20ppm before a water change.
I have a busy work schedule,family, and have neglected the algae a bit, but I still keep up with water changes and skimmer cleaning. However, I noticed that now that I have bubble algae and hair algae, my nitrates were at 3-4ppm right before a water change.
As mentioned before, I have had my tank for 3 years and have not changed my stock, feeding habits, or water changes (yes I use rodi 0tds) in at least the last 1 year.
So to ask the question once more, since I've babbled on, does bubble algae and hair algae eat nitrates and is it beneficial in that sense?
