Here's My Issue ..

[Luke.]

Hey everyone so my issue is i have algee not really enough to show on a phosphates test but the glass gets algee more then normal and so does a few spots on the sand bed .. I've been trying. Different things for my tank.. Yes I run a canister filter that's just enough to run my 40 gallon saltwater lol and never had an issue that I know of and I ran 1 cotton sheet and a foam sheet and now about 1 and a half weeks ago I started to run nitra guard bio cubes ( basically control nitrates) and boy what a difference now I don't have to do weekly water changes justt test kit after test kit lol, so here's what I'm thinking

Not enough flow on the sand ,

Or My hoevens wrasse is a bastard and picks on my snails and conch so bad I don't even see them in the day anymore

Or I don't have enough snails for the job ?

I have 6 typical small glass cleaners and 1 conch

Also I run about 2,000 gph 3 power heads and my out put of the filter , and if anyone wants to know water quality just ask I didn't do phosphates testyet

 

[scubasteve]

when was the last time you changed your carbon.... when my glass starts to film thats usually it.... a few more snails will help especially nassarius for the sandbed

 

[Luke.]

I don't run carbon just that nirta guard it says it also eliminates phosphates

 

[Luke.]

But still have an algee issue and nitrates are 0.5 ppm , so should I add more of the bio cubes. ? I'm not to fermiluar which what I should stuff in my little filstar canister ?

 

[EricTMah]

You know that Nitra Guard cubes are a form of carbon dosing, right? Also this stuff really takes up to 6-8 weeks before fully functional.

Didn't see it in your op, but are you even running a skimmer?

Also you said you didn't have issues until after you stopped doing more frequent WC's. I'd suggest start back up on the wc's. You really NEED to keep up on weekly WC's until this stuff fully kicks in. Also 40g isn't an overly large tank and nutrients build up very quickly.

 

[Luke.]

I have a skimmer e shop psk100 , but it likes to over flow about once a week for some odd reason I can't controll the flow so I leave it off for 2 days start it back up its fine for another week or so never had an issue with it for 4-5 months maybe because I added 8.4 alk booster , fuel product ? I'm not to sure still playing around with it to find out , and should I do a water change of it reads 0.5 ppm nitrates ?

 

[EricTMah]

Fuel will cause algae if not used correctly.

Also sounds like you're looking for that magical product that will eliminate WC's. Which does not exist. Especially with a small system.
People get away with less WC's using nitrate removal tools like nitra guard and bio pellets in LARGE system because it's more forgiving with the water volume. They're able to detect raises in po4 and no3 sooner before it becomes an issue because of water volume. In your small system no3 and po4 can reach toxic levels quickly due to much less water volume.

Short answer. Keep up on WC's. No exception with small systems.

You can keep the nitra guard in there as a prevention and piece of mind. But don't count on it to keep no3 and po4 at bay to the point of reducing WC's.

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[jroovers]

You know that Nitra Guard cubes are a form of carbon dosing, right? Also this stuff really takes up to 6-8 weeks before fully functional.

Can you be more specific as to what type of algae you are getting? I'm not familiar with Nitra Guard, but as Eric noted, it sounds like it is a form of carbon dosing. Seeing cyano pop up after starting carbon dosing is very common. I would not add more nitra guard, if anything, I'd take some out/offline. If its anything like bio pellets, usually half (or less) than the recommended amount on the bottle is typically required, but every tank is different. When carbon dosing, you want to bring a fraction of the recommended amount online initially, and slowly add more as you test and watch your nitrates fall, and find the amount that is correct for your tank based on your husbandry practices (while balancing feedings with nutrient export through skimming and WCs in addition to the media). As Eric said, I wouldn't change your routine - keep your water change schedule and feed about the same, and continue to monitor your parameters... if your nitrates are at or near zero, I'd remove a bit of the media, retest, if still at 0, remove more, and then find the spot where it isn't 0 anymore - that is where you are going to get the best balance of nitrate control, while not feeding nuisance algae/bacteria like cyano.

 

[EricTMah]

Well said @jroovers.

Nitra guard is a form of carbon dosing. I've never had any personal experience with carbon dosing other than using nitra guard at the beginning stages of my tank, until my fuge matured. But I was always under the impression that while carbon dosing it is very important to skim constantly as the bacteria that explodes in growth with all forms carbon dosing will cause unwanted algae blooms. Especially cyano.

Some food for thought luke.

Bottom line. Don't stop your WC's just because a product says it apparently removes no3 and po4. Not even for nutrient export. But there are a lot of minerals and nutrients in the salt that we don't test for that aids in a healthy system. IMO there is nothing that does better for a reef tank than regular WC's with a quality salt.

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[Kman]

I have used both bio pellets and Nitra guard and you really have to be careful how much you use with both. The Nitra guard didn't kick in for me fully for 12 weeks so it is easy to overdose with this stuff. If it kicks in and you are using to much you will fuel a slime algae outbreak. Look for it being a dark brown and sometimes almost black color like dirt. Then you know it has kicked in.

You still need to do water changes as it bring back into equilibrium of you tank balance. I only used this stuff till my fug kicked in or you run the risk of running into a ULNS or you cause and algae outbreak because you have to much excess bacteria.