Nutrient Export

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SantaMonica

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This might help explain algae problems:
 
Nutrient Export
 
What do all algae (and cyano too) need to survive? Nutrients. What are nutrients? Ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and urea are the major ones. Which ones cause most of the algae in your tank? These same ones. Why can't you just remove these nutrients and eliminate all the algae in your tank? Because these nutrients are the result of the animals you keep.
 
So how do your animals "make" these nutrients? Well a large part the nutrients comes from pee (urea). Pee is very high in urea and ammonia, and these are a favorite food of algae and some bacteria. This is why your glass will always need cleaning; because the pee hits the glass before anything else, and algae on the glass consume the ammonia and urea immediately (using photosynthesis) and grow more. In the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton consume the ammonia and urea in open water, and seaweed consume it in shallow areas, but in a tank you don't have enough space or water volume for this, and, your other filters or animals often remove or kill the phytoplankton or seaweed anyway. So, the nutrients stay in your tank.
 
Then, the ammonia/ammonium hits your rocks, and the periphyton on the rocks consumes more ammonia and urea. Periphyton is both algae and animals, and is the reason your rocks change color after a few weeks from when they were new. Then the ammonia goes inside the rock, or hits your sand, and bacteria there convert it into nitrite and nitrate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.
 
Also let's not forget phosphate, which comes from solid organic food particles. When these particles are eaten by microbes and clean up crews, the organic phosphorus in them is converted into phosphate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.
 
So whenever you have algae or cyano "problems", you simply have not exported enough nutrients out of your tank compared to how much you have been feeding (note: live rock can absorb phosphate for up to a year, making it seem like there was never a problem. Then after a year, there is a problem). 
 
So just increase your nutrient exports. You could also reduce feeding, and this has the same effect, but it's certainly not fun when you want to feed your animals  :)
 
 
Essentially All the nitrogen, phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) in your aquarium comes from the food you feed your fish.  These elements are often referred to a macro nutrients.  All plants and animals need these elements to survive.  Don't bother going to the store looking for food low in )NPK) because all food comes from plants and animals.
 
 
 
So how do your animals "make" these nutrients? Well a large part the nutrients comes from pee (urea).
Urea is how fish get rid of excess nitrogen they get from food.  It is broken down to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate , and finally to N2 which evaporates and returns to the air.  Excess Potassium and some phosphorous are also discarded in urine and feces. 
 
As to potassium and phosphorous they cannot evaporate from aquarium like nitrogen.  They accumulate in the water.  Most forms of potassium are highly water soluble and will eventually be removed as you periodically cycle water in and out of the tank.  Phosphorous is the least soluble of the three elements and will typically accumulate in the substrate.  Many algae issues are  due to excess phosphate.  In addition to water cycling phosphorous can be removed by use of a phosphate remover in your filter.
 
The primary way to remove excess NPK is through cycling  water.  If you don't cycle enough water regularly NPK and other elements will accumulate in the water causing changes in PH, KH, GH, N readings in your aquarium test kits.  Note that most aquarium test kits don't include tests for phosphorous or potassium.  Test do exist for PK and I would strongly encourage anyone with algae issues to get a phosphate test kit due to its strong tendency to accumulate over time in the aquarium.  
 
In addition to water cycling and reducing feeding your can remove NPK one other way.  grow plants.  Plants (including algae) need NPK and micro nutrients to grow.  If you can get pant growth to be fast enough, they will remove NPK as fast or faster than it accumulates.  I finally succeeded in in this methode after over a year of algae issues.  phosphate now frequently doesn't sow up in my test for it and most of the algae in my tank vanished.
 
Yes that's the more-involved description that I resisted posting  :)
 

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