Nitrates = plant food.
Nitrates are what farmers pay $$$ for to get their plants growing.
Fish food => fish poop => ammonia => nitrites => nitrates
Cyano is killing me!
- Thread starter AquatiCreations
- Start date
Nitrates = plant food.
Nitrates are what farmers pay $$$ for to get their plants growing.
Fish food => fish poop => ammonia => nitrites => nitrates
Generally your statement isn't exactly correct.
If you have any algae then it is thriving on your nitrate.
If you have low nitrate it is more likely that you are not over feeding your tank. That you have a good food system going. That you have no nitrate factories. You don't let a lot of waste pile up somewhere. If all this is running well then your refuge algae can help keep your existing nitrate levels low and controlled.
AquatiCreations; Besides the correct light and the nutrient issues whether an algae flourishes or just survives or gets out-competed totally can come down the flow. A lot of algae doesn't adhere well to stuff and flow will mess it up. If it keeps getting messed up it can't proliferate. Eventually if it's cellular death rate exceeds its reproduction rate it will recede. Eventually that particular type of algae will 100% die off in your system. Then THAT particular algae may no longer present an issue for you.
Kcress, I don't have any nitrate issues though...to be honest I haven't ever done a water change and my system has been up for almost 7 months and I have never had a water clarity issue or ammonia, nitrite or nitrate issue...yes I do check my conditions regularly and monitor every chemical...I do have a great cleaning crew (some hermits, emerald crab, some snails, sand sifting star tiger tail cucumber, orange spotted goby) and plus my fish seem to enjoy eating eachother's poo too every so often hah! I have a pretty thick sand bed as well. The next thing I want to get is a tunze wavebox before I get corals because it will be good for the tangs and for moving everything around nicely...expensive but what isn't in this hobby? I also use a nitrate sponge sponge that I replace every so often...call me what you will but I'm happy and so are my pets.
High flow, apart from removing cyano mechanically seems it inherently does not like flow. It is also one of the few bacteria that removes nitrates aerobically. In addition it thrives on the longer end of the light spectrum, hence cyano usually means, increase flow and time to change the lights. I have cyano, it seems I always will, but it is in the dark low flow areas of my sump, so try not to starve it of light.
well im glad to say its starting to recede some ,when i get the chance im going to pick up a maxi jet,as well as get something to clean my sand bed.
Catpicklesdog
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
I have to admit it was the introduction of more powerheads, reduced lighting and cut down on feeding that finally won the battle on mine.
oh and I got an RO/DI unit aswell.
oh and I got an RO/DI unit aswell.
Well, most cyanobacteria are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen, so eliminating nitrates is only one step. Limiting phosphates will have a more profound effect, IME. I wouldn't say that a change in spectrum influences cyanobacterial growth--it merely favors it. In other words, it isn't that they prefer those spectra--cyanobacteria will thrive in most spectra--but when those parameters drift out of the favored range for other organisms, the cyanobacteria are able to outcompete them for nutrients, since they are so effective at doing so. However, if nutrients are limited in the first place, even a drifted spectrum won't be an issue, nor will an increase in light/photoperiod or an increase in temperature.
From literature that I have read, it seems that cyanobacteria thrive's on light in about the 525nm range, where they have optimal growth. This is the red cyano, and not the blue-green, which thrive in conditions where the light is much longer, say in the 600nm range.
Now we know, as your lights get older, like us we have difficulty keeping things tight... so, our expensive MH's (and other lighting) start to degrade, resulting in longer wavelengths.
In addition, I know and from what aquaticreations has quoted and from my own tank (0 trates), it seems nutrients have little to do with it.. well that is a little stupid to say that, because everything requires some type of nutrient..
But why not grow in the form of a different type of algae?
And why, if water is ruled out by having the same water in my sump, and the same water in my tank, do I have cyano in my sump (in the dark area's as well) but not in my tank?
Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic (meaning they don't have a nucleus). They are considered phototrophs, as they derive energy from light, and are capable of photosynthesis. We also know that they are (contrary to what they are referred to) not algae, but bacteria, meaning they reproduce by fission or splitting (a form of asexual reproduction) to multiply.. now this part is where I start to believe in the light thing, because:
Now we know, as your lights get older, like us we have difficulty keeping things tight... so, our expensive MH's (and other lighting) start to degrade, resulting in longer wavelengths.
In addition, I know and from what aquaticreations has quoted and from my own tank (0 trates), it seems nutrients have little to do with it.. well that is a little stupid to say that, because everything requires some type of nutrient..
But why not grow in the form of a different type of algae?
And why, if water is ruled out by having the same water in my sump, and the same water in my tank, do I have cyano in my sump (in the dark area's as well) but not in my tank?
Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic (meaning they don't have a nucleus). They are considered phototrophs, as they derive energy from light, and are capable of photosynthesis. We also know that they are (contrary to what they are referred to) not algae, but bacteria, meaning they reproduce by fission or splitting (a form of asexual reproduction) to multiply.. now this part is where I start to believe in the light thing, because:
- if mechanically it can't stay where it is if you blast it, or increase flow, and.
- If it's survival is based on nutrients alone, why doesn't it just relocate and "fission" away somewhere else?
- If I solely replace my bulbs and nothing else, it dies...
