Steady but high nitrates?

[DrBoxedWine]

I'm slowly stocking a 75g tank about 1 fish every 4 weeks after they go through qt. I had a really high nitrate issue a few weeks ago (100 or so), but though a series of water changes and adding a refugium with chaeto, I've got them at 30 or so and steady. I'm now getting a green hair algae issue. My light cycle had my Hydras on 13 hours a day (not wise, I know), I've cut this to about 7 hours plus 2 hours of blue at night. I've done some daily scrubbings of the rock and changed the filter floss an hour or so after. I've done this for 3 days now.

I'd like to get nitrates lower to deal with this hair algae. I don't have a real great way to do water changes, I can do about a 60% change but it's a pain (buckets and just generally not a great setup for large WCs, no way to really improve this in current house).

I could add a second light to my refugium, but right now my stock list is about 1/4 of what it'll be, so I feel like I need to get this under wraps now and add another light later when I really need it. I have a good, oversized skimmer.

I've also considered vinegar dosing, but i'd love it of there was an even easier way. My phosphates are reading 0 but that could be because it's all bound up in the hair algae.

Anyone have any suggestions? Should I decrease my light cycle even further? I am going to decrease feeding a little, but I already only feed once a day so I don't have a ton of wiggle room there, but I'll start feeding slightly less every time. What nitrate level do I need to achieve for hair algae to no longer be an issue?

 

[DrBoxedWine]

I also just added about 60 snails on Friday, not sure if that will help

 

[iceet]

Vinegar/carbon dosing is great for controlling excess nutrients when nothing else is working. It may be the extra boost you need. And be careful with snails buddy they DO NOT like nitrates.

 

[Pife]

I'm just guessing but you may be over feeding. Your tank is still very new I figure based on you joining date. Slow down and let it mature.

 

[KAMIKAZE0214]

I'm slowly stocking a 75g tank about 1 fish every 4 weeks after they go through qt. I had a really high nitrate issue a few weeks ago (100 or so), but though a series of water changes and adding a refugium with chaeto, I've got them at 30 or so and steady. I'm now getting a green hair algae issue. My light cycle had my Hydras on 13 hours a day (not wise, I know), I've cut this to about 7 hours plus 2 hours of blue at night. I've done some daily scrubbings of the rock and changed the filter floss an hour or so after. I've done this for 3 days now.

I'd like to get nitrates lower to deal with this hair algae. I don't have a real great way to do water changes, I can do about a 60% change but it's a pain (buckets and just generally not a great setup for large WCs, no way to really improve this in current house).

I could add a second light to my refugium, but right now my stock list is about 1/4 of what it'll be, so I feel like I need to get this under wraps now and add another light later when I really need it. I have a good, oversized skimmer.

I've also considered vinegar dosing, but i'd love it of there was an even easier way. My phosphates are reading 0 but that could be because it's all bound up in the hair algae.

Anyone have any suggestions? Should I decrease my light cycle even further? I am going to decrease feeding a little, but I already only feed once a day so I don't have a ton of wiggle room there, but I'll start feeding slightly less every time. What nitrate level do I need to achieve for hair algae to no longer be an issue?

Hair algae is actually helping with nitrates and phosphates. I had similar issue- I got a big chunk of chaeto, cut back on feedings, left my light cycle high and harvested hair algae as it grew. If you don't want to dose carbon, get a GFO reactor. That will help too.

 

[Bryopsis]

Get a legitimate recirculating biopellet reactor. (Aqualund is one, reef dynamics another)
Get some biopellets.(different brands kinda seem the same, personal preference is ecobak plus; avoid the mixed with gfo stuff)

Never worry about controlling the level of nitrates again. (I still run GFO to alleviate the bp reactor from stalling; it also helps to spread duties)

Don't think I'll ever run a tank without bp's.

 

[tmz]

Aside from fish and clean up crew what animals do you keep or plan to keep in the tank?

Is there a sand bed?

How long has the tank been up and running?

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Thanks everyone. I'll try and address most of the responses with some follow up questions.

Vinegar Dosing - I'm not opposed to this, but i've heard it can lead to Cyano outbreaks.

I do suspect i've been overfeeding a tad, but not THAT much. All the food is pretty much gone in 5 minutes or so. I've cut it back a little in the last couple days. The tank is new, i started it up early August using rock from my cycling QT to speed up the DT cycle. I've only added 3 fish, a small flamehawk and 2 clowns (and both clowns were at the same time), i feel like i'm going slow as it is!! lol. I won't be adding another fish for 2 more weeks. Will the tank begin to take care of PO4 on it's own eventually? I was under the impression that tank age isn't a huge factor here.

As for just harvesting the hair algae, i hear you on that. My only fear is that this will be an ongoing issue if i don't do something else. Brushing the rocks really isn't that bad, and then an hour later the filter pad is absolutely nasty, so i know i'm taking a lot of crap out.

Biopellets - So from my research into this (which isn't extensive), these are sort of like a controlled vinegar dosing, correct? You're basically adding a carbon source and growing the bacteria in the reactor? How often do you change them out? Is it costly?

I plan on doing some corals in the tank (picked up a pair of Hydras at MACNA), but nothing too crazy. LPS, maybe a BTA, and perhaps some of the lower maintenance SPS. The fish are my favorite part of the hobby and the corals are a nice bonus. My stocklist will be on the heavy side (Kole tang, One Spot Foxface, possibly an African Flameback, 2 clowns, flamehawk, firefish, Mccosker's Flasher, LM Blenny perhaps).

How much do you guys spend on GFO monthly? I actually have a bunch of GAC that i never really used on my old FW tank. Can i just place it in the sump in a bag or does the water have to be forced to go through it?

I'm thinking maybe my cheapest solution right now (i've just been blowing through money on this tank lately, if i could put of a GFO reactor until after christmas that would be awesome) might be another $35 PAR 38 LED from Home Depot for the fuge. my fuge is kinda long and skinny and i don't get full coverage from a single bulb.

Thanks for the replies and thoughts everyone, my old FW tank couldn't grow algae if i tried, haha. This certainly has been a challenge (a fun one, tho).

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Aside from fish and clean up crew what animals do you keep or plan to keep in the tank?

Is there a sand bed?

How long has the tank been up and running?

also, yes, there is about a 2" sand bed of Tropic Eden Reef Flakes. It's been running since August.

 

[tmz]

This thread may be of interest if you are considering organic carbon dosing, yur questions are disucssed in it :

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2134105&highlight=orgnanic

 

[iceet]

If you don't plan on keeping SPS you probably don't need to stress out about nitrates too much. LPS actually like their water a little dirty and prefer low levels of nitrates/phosphates as opposed to none at all. I've ran my tank steady at about 80 ppm nitrates for a while now and it seems to be thriving but I wouldn't recommend it. I've got LPS, SPS, softies, inverts, and fish.

If you DO want to reduce your nutrients further without increasing your frequency of water changes or reducing feeding frequency then these are the only options that I see that you have left.

A. Algae turf scrubber. Supposedly they are effective but I've never used one so I cannot comment on it.
B. Running carbon/GFO. While carbon does not reduce nitrates or phosphates directly, it reduces total organic carbon before the TOC can break down into nutrients. Yes you can run it in your sump but it wont be as effective as a reactor.
C. Carbon dosing/Biopellets. I personally feel that manual carbon dosing via vodka or vinegar is a little safer than biopellets unless you get a recirculating reactor. The reason is that with biopellets you can remove too many nutrients from your tank which can negatively affect your softies and LPS. At least with manual carbon dosing you are watching your tank every day as you do it and can adjust accordingly.

Also are you sure you have enough live rock for your system?

Here is an up close picture of my tank in case you wanted to see it. Pardon my dirty glass.

 

[tmz]

LPS don't like high nitrates either, ime. ther are a number of methods to rduce them. For starters I'd add teh following to the list above :

Macro algae refugia
denitrators, I prefer sulfur dentrators over teh other types
Detritus removal

 

[ca1ore]

Heavy feeding does not have to be a problem, but over feeding is. I'd suggest that you should feed your fish an amount that they fully consumer in 30 seconds, not 5 minutes. That way less ends up rotting in the tank.

If you are getting GHA growth then I'd increase the number of herbivores. Though some folks frown on them, I always have an army of hermit crabs in my tank and they do an excellent job of eating it. Also, maybe you say earlier and I missed it, but get a herbivorous fish in there - either a lawnmower blennie or a yellow tang.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Thanks everyone! I'm getting carbon and and gfo reactors tomorrow. What's a good nitrate level to shoot for? And i'll be getting a one spot foxface next weekend, I'm hoping he'll help? I'm eventually doing a Kole tang as well (last fish I'm adding). Should I do a lawnmower blenny as well? I'd imagine 3 herbivores is a lot for a 75g.

 

[tmz]

I'd say 1ppm or less. Some say more is tolerable but I see no benefit,IME. . Surface NSW on natural reefs runs around 0.2ppm,btw.