Silly Macroalgae Question

[WormLicker]

Should one be as cautious adding macro as say, fish?

I ordered some small macro samples, (1/4lb total, grab bag) but since ordering them my nitrate has gone to 0. I did add my final livestock and I'm hoping things bump up a bit before they arrive, but should I proceed with caution?

I've skimmed through the macro forum but I couldn't find what I was looking for. 

Is adding macro to a tank reading 0Am/0no2/0no3 a bad idea? 

They are going to be very small specimens, including dragon tongue and chaeto. I wanted to add color to the display but now I'm wondering if it's the wrong time? I was sitting at a nice 8 no3 for two weeks, now 0. 

Any input is really appreciated!

 

[Firefish15]

They definitely need a nutrient source, otherwise they shrivel down and waste away. Microbacter makes NO3 and PO4 additives if your macros and corals really are starving. 
How old is your tank?

Are you seeing any microalgae growth?

[seabass]

They will need some inorganic nutrients, but I wouldn't stress too much about it.  You might think about buying some fertilizer.

 

4 minutes ago, Firefish15 said:

They definitely need a nutrient source, otherwise they shrivel down and waste away. Microbacter makes NO3 and PO4 additives if your macros and corals really are starving.

You mean Brightwell NeoNitro and NeoPhos?

[Firefish15]

5 minutes ago, seabass said:

You mean Brightwell NeoNitro and NeoPhos?

Haha yes, those ones. My mistake on the brand name. I use Microbacter7 and got that stuck in my head.

[WormLicker]

41 minutes ago, Firefish15 said:

They definitely need a nutrient source, otherwise they shrivel down and waste away. Microbacter makes NO3 and PO4 additives if your macros and corals really are starving. 
How old is your tank?

Are you seeing any microalgae growth?

My tank is around a month old, I have quite a bit of hair and bubble algae at the moment. Today was the first day since the initial cycle that I'm getting 0/0/0, my corals are still trucking along ok so I'm not necessarily worried about nutrients- yet.

[Firefish15]

So, you do have nutrients. It’s early in the tank life, things freshly cycled. 
You got a 0 on your nitrate test because the hair and bubble algae are sequestering those nutrients as soon as they’re produced. Your macros will probably be fine, and will compete with the hair and bubble algae for that nitrate.

[WormLicker]

6 minutes ago, Firefish15 said:

So, you do have nutrients. It’s early in the tank life, things freshly cycled. 
You got a 0 on your nitrate test because the hair and bubble algae are sequestering those nutrients as soon as they’re produced. Your macros will probably be fine, and will compete with the hair and bubble algae for that nitrate.

Okay, thanks! That makes sense to me. 

[Firefish15]

 

13 minutes ago, WormLicker said:

Okay, thanks! That makes sense to me.

Of course!

 

I had chaeto growing in my HOB filter with a light when I first started my 10g nano. It grew like crazy during the first couple months, but then growth started to plateau as the tank matured. I decided to throw it out at that point. 

That’s when I would start adding fertilizer, when your macros start stalling and you still don’t have much microalgae growth.

[WormLicker]

1 minute ago, Firefish15 said:

 

Of course!

 

I had chaeto growing in my HOB filter with a light when I first started my 10g nano. It grew like crazy during the first couple months, but then growth started to plateau as the tank matured. I decided to throw it out at that point. 

That’s when I would start adding fertilizer, when your macros start stalling and you still don’t have much microalgae growth.

Okay, even better! This is a great description for what to look for, thank you again. Experience is priceless !

[Murphs_Reef]

4 hours ago, WormLicker said:

My tank is around a month old, I have quite a bit of hair and bubble algae at the moment. Today was the first day since the initial cycle that I'm getting 0/0/0, my corals are still trucking along ok so I'm not necessarily worried about nutrients- yet.

At the beginning of the year a few of the lads helped me with GHA. See my magic potion in the below post:

 

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/418257-reefspace-90g-mixed-reef-toying-with-sps/?do=findComment&comment=6015894

[Pjanssen]

I'm not sure chaeto in the display is a great idea. I actually tried it, and found that it broke apart too much and ended up floating around the tank too much, clogging the pump intake. 

 

Also, if the macros don't out compete the hair and bubble algae for nutrients, and you end up needing to treat to get rid of those nuisance algae, then keep in mind that whatever you do will kill both desirable and undesirable algae. I would try to manually remove as much of the hair algae as possible. Get an emerald crab to tackle the bubble.

 

 

[rough eye]

On 8/28/2021 at 7:12 AM, Pjanssen said:

Get an emerald crab to tackle the bubble.

 

 

yes! emerald crabs are cool!

[Tired]

You don't want your nutrients to read 0. Even if they're technically present in some amount, corals and macros need nutrients readily available, as do beneficial algaes. Low to no nutrients courts pest algae and even dinos. 

 

Tiny frags of macro shouldn't take much of  your nutrients, but you should have nutrients before putting them in. They'll need nutrients to adjust to the new tank, or they'd likely just melt all in one go. 

[filefishfinatic]

On 8/27/2021 at 8:50 PM, WormLicker said:

Should one be as cautious adding macro as say, fish?

I ordered some small macro samples, (1/4lb total, grab bag) but since ordering them my nitrate has gone to 0. I did add my final livestock and I'm hoping things bump up a bit before they arrive, but should I proceed with caution?

I've skimmed through the macro forum but I couldn't find what I was looking for. 

Is adding macro to a tank reading 0Am/0no2/0no3 a bad idea? 

They are going to be very small specimens, including dragon tongue and chaeto. I wanted to add color to the display but now I'm wondering if it's the wrong time? I was sitting at a nice 8 no3 for two weeks, now 0. 

Any input is really appreciated!

 

dont water change for a while they will slowly die in ulns tank 

[Clown79]

On 8/28/2021 at 7:12 AM, Pjanssen said:

I'm not sure chaeto in the display is a great idea. I actually tried it, and found that it broke apart too much and ended up floating around the tank too much, clogging the pump intake. 

 

Also, if the macros don't out compete the hair and bubble algae for nutrients, and you end up needing to treat to get rid of those nuisance algae, then keep in mind that whatever you do will kill both desirable and undesirable algae. I would try to manually remove as much of the hair algae as possible. Get an emerald crab to tackle the bubble.

 

 

I tried it too. even in a basket chaeto made a mess in the display