Thinking of going fauna

[Mrfish55]

I orederd new test refills today supposed to have them Thusday.

[marie]

Okay, My nitrates are 0.3ppm and my phosphates are 0.022 (heated) as per Dave's colorimeter....that seems awful low considering I haven't done a water change in at least 3 weeks

[Skimmerking]

But Remember Marie PO4 is PO4 if you have some type of sort of Algae then you have PO4. however some PO4 is great for tanks and some isnt

[marie]

I realize Mike but I don't have "out of control" algae and considering I haven't ran any phosphate removers in the tank for the last 2 years I thought it would be higher than that.
I suppose it is a good thing that I have so many different types of algae that non can gain supremacy and take over the tank

[Aqua-Digital]

Not bad for a low maintenance tank and will explain your great coral collection.

But if you want to be rid of algal issues and see even better colouration results then you would need to get both these levels down.

[Aqua-Digital]

Hi Marie,

The old saying if it "aint broke dont fix it" strongly comes in to play here.

If you are happy with the tank as it is then do not change anything, but if you want to start some interesting food regimes for better colouration or other advances then these level would need to come down.

But the important thing is for you to do what you feel is right for your tank, we as outsiders can only advise, and still flick back to the first photos and admire at your great achievements

[Myka]

Marie, could you post pictures of the algae that you are wanting to get rid of? Just wondering if the amount is minor or more significant...

[marie]

Originally Posted by Myka

Marie, could you post pictures of the algae that you are wanting to get rid of? Just wondering if the amount is minor or more significant...

Myka, I have to say I might be a bit nitpicky and the amount isn't that significant.
I have some cyano type (I say type because this stuff doesn't seem to mind higher flow areas) that coats the underside of the rocks and the back wall of the tank. I have brown wafer algae coating the overflows, 3 different types of caulerpa trying to squeeze in where the fish can't reach, my absolute worse nemesis Dictyota is trying to rear its ugly head and of couse "out of control" coralline algae

[marie]

Originally Posted by Aqua-Digital

Hi Marie,

The old saying if it "aint broke dont fix it" strongly comes in to play here.

If you are happy with the tank as it is then do not change anything, but if you want to start some interesting food regimes for better colouration or other advances then these level would need to come down.

But the important thing is for you to do what you feel is right for your tank, we as outsiders can only advise, and still flick back to the first photos and admire at your great achievements

What would be your suggestion to get the levels down? Assuming I start regular water changes...phosphate removers? Is water changes enough to get nitrates to stay down?
If I had gone by my eyes alone I would of said nitrates undetectable, I couldn't see any pink/red in the test tube at all