Algae reactor effectiveness

[Perthreefer]

I’ve been battling a bit of nuisance algae (hair and cyano) for a few months now and although it is slowly getting better with aggressive use of GFO and a large clean up crew, I am still a bit confused as to the source of the nutrients.
I am running a 30 gallon system with a large sump, detector skimmer, GFO reactor and a carbon reactor. The system has been running for almost a year now.
I feed minimally, do 25% water changes weekly, Hanna tests show 0 phosphate and 0 nitrate (due to the presence of the algae, I’m guessing). All I can think of is that this phosphate is leaching from the rock I have.
During all my research about causes and cures of this algae I stumbled across an article about algae reactors. I’d love to have a long term filtration system that is more stable than using GFO and was wondering if anyone has any reports about the long term effectiveness of using an algae reactor.
I was looking at buying a Pax Bellum N18 which is a big outlay but will be cheaper than running GFO in the long term, I just would like to hear opinions from people that have run an algae reactor before I drop $900 on one.
As a side thought I’d love to get a mandarin and was wondering how effective the reactors were at sustaining a copepod population.
I’d appreciate any input 😀

[Subsea]

Algae reactors, algae refugiums and ATS all work.  I have used them all for more than 40 years.

 

understand this about nutrient management:  in the Marine enviroment the big three nutrients are nitrogen/phosphate/potassium.  Everything that grows requires  nitrogen & phosphate.  As a general rule, the ratio of nitrogen to phosphate is 30:1.  Also as a general rule, low nitrogen favors nuisance algae.

 

i run high nutrient systems and I feed heavy.  

 

Pardon the glass needing cleaning.  It’s been a busy Spring here in Austin.

[Perthreefer]

Thanks for the reply Patrick. The more I have read into the effects of nutrients the more confusing it has become. I have always strived for low nutrients in my 15+ years of reefkeeping but on this current system I am a bit confused, I have a few very pale pieces of acropora, suggesting they are not getting the nutrients they need, levels are zero but I still have hair algae!

I have bought and set up an algae reactor today so hopefully the results will be positive!

 

20190413_073634194_iOS by kenpau01, on Flickr

[Subsea]

Your equipment is top of the line. 

 

I use natural systems with minimal equipment.  We are on opposite ends of the spectrum on nutrient management.  I give the system as much food as it can handle.  I put more emphasis on the sand bed janitors that process organic & inorganic nutrients and feed the tank live food with larvae of different sizes.  

 

Consider your reef system as The Garden of Eden.  Do you starve your showpiece garden?  As a Master Gardner, I feed my reef and watch desirables grow.  When undesirables grow, I get appropriate janitors or I weed them out before they take hold.   

[Perthreefer]

I definitely like your methodology of using minimal equipment and an effective janitors. The problem I have found with selecting janitors is that the major algae eating fish are either too large (tangs/foxfaces etc) or have a tendency to jump and I have an open top tank. I have multiple snails with the hope that they would make a difference but in all honesty I haven't seen much change. 

That being said, I am looking forward to seeing the results of a more natural reef with algae being grown in a controlled environment to control the nutrients, hopefully now I can start to feed more heavily and watch the reef thrive.

[Subsea]

I never considered fish as appropriate janitors.  I start at the bottom of the food chain with micro fana & microflora.  When I start a tank, I get uncured diver collected live rock and I cure it in my display tank to get maximum diversity at the microbial level.  I restrain myself from adding any fish for 90 days.  In this way, my display tank starts out as a display refugium.  I maintain mandarins in sumpless skimmerless 55G displays.  Even with heavy fish loads in these tanks, my live rock is loaded with large amphipods & small copepods., if I allow tank to mature 90 days without fish predators.

 

I am glad you discontinued carbon dosing which fuels bacteria blooms like Cynobacteria & GHA.  

 

Bacteria feeding on protein (food) produce amino acids which grow coral and consume detritus.  So food fuels growth.  You are starving your system.  

 

Even if you don’t want to feed more,then you should dose nitrogen.  Without nitrogen fixation bacteria, planet Earth would be a wasteland.  

 

Understand this about nutrient management:  

In the Marine enviroment: Carbon:Nitrogen:Phosphorus combine in the ratio of

560:30:1 for macro algae & coral.

 

Micro algae combines in the ratio of 116:16:1

 

why strive for zero nitrogen in your system?  

 

[Rastareefer]

For me at least, I rarely tend to bother about nitrates rising (within reason) but I keep a close eye on phosphates because I find they’re far more closely linked to the growth of nuisance algae. 
 

Found this topic because I’m planning on getting al ALR-1 algae reactor next month for my 13.5 gal nano tank, I’ll update here to let you know how it goes. 👌

 

I’ve tried using the central chamber of my AIO sump area to run a refugium, did well on nutrients but was a nightmare to maintain because insufficient flow in the back chambers turned it into a detritus trap. Hoping the targeted flow and optimised design of a reactor will help control nutrients since I don’t have space for an external sump. 👍🏻

[mcarroll]

Chasing nutrients to "battle algae" is outmoded, so I'd say to "go easy" in that direction.  

 

Control is about algae removal (by hand or by cleanup crew), it is not about starvation by way of nutrient removal.

 

My tank has nitrates of 100 and phosphates of 2.0 ppm...both "very high" according to conventional wisdom...both tested with Salifert tests.  No (visible) algae growth thanks to cleanup crew and manual removal.  Happy corals.