newbcube
12/06/2018, 04:28 PM
Does anyone know of any research or proof or biology relating to algae growth and salinity?
I ask because I am trying to decide between correlation or causation in my tank. I've got a 75g mixed reef with a clown pair and a pink spot goby. A few months ago I added a new fish and discovered what I believed to be ich so went through the whole hospital tank and fallow process.
Before then I had a couple Zoa frags and a small frog spawn frag. Being completely honest I was lackadaisical about checking parameters and had been using a hydrometer for salinity measurement. When I first added the frog spawn and zoas in March I had a bit of a hair algae problem, but the corals looked healthy and the fish were active and healthy. I began to work on increasing my nutrient export strategy, to decrease the hair algae even though I don't really hate it as much as others do.
Cue the new fish with potential parasite. I ended up losing that gramma and a goby in the hospital but my clowns made it through the process. Now during the fallow period i decided to focus on coral for a bit and added a few more frags. In the mean time i noticed the algae clearing up in the tank both film and hair. I started watch the parameters more closely and discovered my calcium an mag were off the charts (red sea foundation pro test kit). So i took a sample to Lfs to sanity check myself. Learned my salinity was through the roof at 1.032. So I began the process of bringing that down and thought the algae started to become more prominent. I have since brought it down to 1.024 and added the clowns back to the tank Thanksgiving weekend (so nutrients into the tank have increased). Alongside adding the fish the algae has come back. I know the increased nutrient input seems to be the obvious reason and I think is definitely part of it, but it really seemed to pick up with the drop of salinity before adding the fish back. Am I out in left field or is this a known relationship? I'm not freaking out or anything, just sharing some thoughts.
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I ask because I am trying to decide between correlation or causation in my tank. I've got a 75g mixed reef with a clown pair and a pink spot goby. A few months ago I added a new fish and discovered what I believed to be ich so went through the whole hospital tank and fallow process.
Before then I had a couple Zoa frags and a small frog spawn frag. Being completely honest I was lackadaisical about checking parameters and had been using a hydrometer for salinity measurement. When I first added the frog spawn and zoas in March I had a bit of a hair algae problem, but the corals looked healthy and the fish were active and healthy. I began to work on increasing my nutrient export strategy, to decrease the hair algae even though I don't really hate it as much as others do.
Cue the new fish with potential parasite. I ended up losing that gramma and a goby in the hospital but my clowns made it through the process. Now during the fallow period i decided to focus on coral for a bit and added a few more frags. In the mean time i noticed the algae clearing up in the tank both film and hair. I started watch the parameters more closely and discovered my calcium an mag were off the charts (red sea foundation pro test kit). So i took a sample to Lfs to sanity check myself. Learned my salinity was through the roof at 1.032. So I began the process of bringing that down and thought the algae started to become more prominent. I have since brought it down to 1.024 and added the clowns back to the tank Thanksgiving weekend (so nutrients into the tank have increased). Alongside adding the fish the algae has come back. I know the increased nutrient input seems to be the obvious reason and I think is definitely part of it, but it really seemed to pick up with the drop of salinity before adding the fish back. Am I out in left field or is this a known relationship? I'm not freaking out or anything, just sharing some thoughts.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk