Algae Problems, Blah.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by garwood

I thought that just as diatoms is one stage, that gha came next in succession but should fade in time. And to think i was happy to see the diatoms (finally something happening). If the gha is hogging all nutrients (like nitrate) im worried that any anaerobic bacteria wont have a chance to grow and that nitrates would always be avail to gha first and therefore the gha support it self in an on going cycle. I dont know where the nutrients are coming from, it was happening even before the cuc.

No it's not , green hair algae is certainly something that you don't wait for or ride out and has absolutely nothing to do with the nitrogen cycle , if your phosphates manage to get to 1.6 the you allowed the nutrients to control you and gave the algae a food source , you waited too long before taking action. a great tip is its easier to prevent then it is to remove

I'll use my own system as a perfect example , this system does the opposite of what most reefers will tell you what to do , it's loaded with don't do this or you'll end up with that's... Going by the rules of reefing I should have a nutrient soup of pests but I don't in fact I have a purely algae free system , loaded with corals and fish , rock is Coraline covered and an abundance of sponges and feather dusters all over the tank and this system is around 10mths old.you'd be hard pressed to find a white spot of anything anywhere in the tank it's packed in full.

My recipe for disaster:

Tap water
No live rock
All pukani
No acid or bleach
No cure
No live sand


So why is my system running perfectly and how did I go around all this?

I manipulated the nutrients as I needed them , I first stripped the system bare and added what I needed when I needed it and removed anything I didn't ......it's that simple I didn't jump on the boat and go for a ride I hopped my own boat and drove exactly where I needed to go

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by reefwars

I didn't jump on the boat and go for a ride I hopped my own boat and drove exactly where I needed to go

Where's the fun in that?? lol But ya, proactively having a plan and implementing it is the correct course. Reacting to stuff is a poor backup plan.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Where's the fun in that?? lol But ya, proactively having a plan and implementing it is the correct course. Reacting to stuff is a poor backup plan.

Like Albert said in another thread about the shrimp , traditionally we add fish or something slowly rotting to get an ammonia source but among other things as well , if we want ammonia then add amonia directly , it's a great example of having the option to manipulate this to your advantage you have the power to add and take it away and therefore you have control if you choose to use it