Red gracilaria macro algae turning green

[HAAAAAAAA]

I had gone for a vacation for 4 days and didn't have a timer for the light so I decided to keep it on for all that 4 days since I had high elevated nitrates (about 100 or more) i thought that it may all get sucked in those 4 days of continuous lighting but it seems that it's turned a lot of green, is this because of the lack of nutrients or excessive lighting? There also seems to be new algae growing from the live rocks and alot of customs aswell even though the tank is about 1.5 to 2 years old

Should I use chaetogro just to be safe? I don't have one currently but it will take a while if I order one

 

[BristleWormHater]

I had gone for a vacation for 4 days and didn't have a timer for the light so I decided to keep it on for all that 4 days since I had high elevated nitrates (about 100 or more) i thought that it may all get sucked in those 4 days of continuous lighting but it seems that it's turned a lot of green, is this because of the lack of nutrients or excessive lighting? There also seems to be new algae growing from the live rocks and alot of customs aswell even though the tank is about 1.5 to 2 years old

Hold up 100ppm Nitrates?

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

Hold up 100ppm Nitrates?

Yeah, my eel or fish haven't had any issues and I did a bit of a research and saw that many fish were tested with different levels of nitrates yet showed no difference in growth or behaviour so i went with that, though right now I am trying to remove some nitrates since I wanted to add some inverts, the nitrates usually stay about 50ppm but I guess the eel ate a lot yesterday Lol

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

For the macroalgae, my first thought would be that it may be going sexual, but maybe @Subsea , @sixty_reefer , or one of the other macro keepers would know for sure.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

For the macroalgae, my first thought would be that it may be going sexual, but maybe @Subsea , @sixty_reefer , or one of the other macro keepers would know for sure.

Thank you! In my opinion i think that macro algaes in general are a bit complicated since many people have differentiated opinions such as (it might be nutrients) (it might be the light) (it might be the temperature) so I just get confused Lol

 

[Subsea]

I had gone for a vacation for 4 days and didn't have a timer for the light so I decided to keep it on for all that 4 days since I had high elevated nitrates (about 100 or more) i thought that it may all get sucked in those 4 days of continuous lighting but it seems that it's turned a lot of green, is this because of the lack of nutrients or excessive lighting? There also seems to be new algae growing from the live rocks and alot of customs aswell even though the tank is about 1.5 to 2 years old

Should I use chaetogro just to be safe? I don't have one currently but it will take a while if I order one

@HAAAAAAAA
What species of Gracilaria do you have in the Arabian Gulf of India? I saw your post with pictures from 2 weeks ago. Yet I have not seen a picture showing the green color that you mention in thread title.

I would not be concerned about the color of the Gracilaria. It varies with intensity & color rendition or spectrum. When I receive Gracilaria Parvispora from Hawaii, if lightning intensity is low, it often turns pale green. In the case of a deep water macro like Bortacladia, Red Grapes, when I get it from the divers it is a dark burgundy. As lighting intensity is increased it turn fire engine red and if subjected to intense lighting, it turns yellow/orange.

What purpose are you using macro algae in your ell display tank? If you are wanting to decrease nitrates from 50ppm then I suggest you run a refugium with intense lighting and harvest macro algae for nutrient export. If you increase lighting in your predator tank display, I suspect you will incur a nuisance algae bloom.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

@HAAAAAAAA
What species of Gracilaria do you have in the Arabian Gulf of India? I saw your post with pictures from 2 weeks ago. Yet I have not seen a picture showing the green color that you mention in thread title.

I would not be concerned about the color of the Gracilaria. It varies with intensity & color rendition or spectrum. When I receive Gracilaria Parvispora from Hawaii, if lightning intensity is low, it often turns pale green. In the case of a deep water macro like Bortacladia, Red Grapes, when I get it from the divers it is a dark burgundy. As lighting intensity is increased it turn fire engine red and if subjected to intense lighting, it turns yellow/orange.

What purpose are you using macro algae in your ell display tank? If you are wanting to decrease nitrates from 50ppm then I suggest you run a refugium with intense lighting and harvest macro algae for nutrient export. If you increase lighting in your predator tank display, I suspect you will incur a nuisance algae bloom.

Indeed, when I first got the algae it didn't have a green colour, it started to develop green colour when I left the lights on 24 hours for 4 days straight I'll send a before and after

And yes, i am currently using a 50 watt 6500kelvin bulb for my display, is that enough? Or should I use a full spectrum 50 watt flood light for a refugium?

I don't know the exact species neither does my lfs, but it is indeed brought from the Indian ocean

When I first got the algae it was more of a dark red with a light shade of brown, here's a before and after

 

[Subsea]

First, you did not answer my question as to what purpose are you adding macro to an ell predator tank with nitrates between 50-100ppm. As an operator of that system, I would maintain low light intensity which is measured in luminous or PAR. Your present light color rendition of 6500K is perfect for algae to grow.

If you followed my analogy of a deep water seaweed (Bortacladia) going from dark burgundy to yellow/orange, you should see the analogy of your Gracilaria changing color because your tank lights are a differrent intensity.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

First, you did not answer my question as to what purpose are you adding macro to an ell predator tank with nitrates between 50-100ppm. As an operator of that system, I would maintain low light intensity which is measured in luminous or PAR. Your present light color rendition of 6500K is perfect for algae to grow.

If you followed my analogy of a deep water seaweed (Bortacladia) going from dark burgundy to yellow/orange, you should see the analogy of your Gracilaria changing color because your tank lights are a differrent intensity.

I apologize for not answering, i wanted to decrease the nitrates as much as possible to add inverts

My bulb has 4400 lumens as for par i don't know because I don't have a par meter sadly should I reduce the lumen intensity?

Should I be worried that the plant has turned yellow/orange? And or is there something I should do?

 

[Subsea]

In this situation, the changing color of the macro is not a problem. I don’t know your system parameters well enough to tell you to change anything. However, I suggest you change nothing and chill out. Allow nitrates to come down as you monitor that one parameter.

Luminous & PAR are often the same thing depending on the spectrum of lamp. In either case, measure nitrate and change nothing.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

Thank you so much!

 

[Subsea]

If you are interested in the science of biochemistry, Let’s park at two other nitrate removal processes:

1. Denitrification in low oxygen enviroment involves bacteria that performed nitrification which reduced ammonia to nitrite then nitrate. The nitrate molecule, NO4 is reduced to a free nitrogen gas while Faculative bacteria break apart the oxygen molecule and consume it for respiration. The Monaco Aquarium operates a Jaubert Plenum and uses water exchange from the Mediterranean Sea.to better illustrate the process.

2. Cryptic refugiums uses sponges to recycle DOC into carbon rich detritus which feeds the microbial loop. If you wish to see filter feeding inverts, I suggest you focus on the microbial loop for a more sustainable ecosystem.

Cryptic refugium & DOC Recycling Using Sponge Loop & Microbial Loop

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.12758 Summary Corals and macroalgae release large quantities of dissolved organic matter (DOM), one of the largest sources of organic matter produced on coral reefs. By rapidly taking up DOM and transforming it into...

www.reef2reef.com

PS: While not getting deep into the science, this vendor link outlines differrent processes that remove excess nutrients frinm the water with some nutrient recycling.

What Are the Best Ways to Lower Nitrate Levels in Your Aquarium?

As an aquarium and fish owner, it’s no surprise that you want to provide the best possible conditions for your underwater pets. Aquarists and hobbyists alike

www.cermedia.com

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

That's so interesting! So algae and coral produce large amounts of dissolved organic matter and hence sponges have the adequate job of processing the doc?

Aswell for the live rocks the bacterial compounds living in the live rocks feed on that dissolved organic matter?

If you are interested in the science of biochemistry, Let’s park at two other nitrate removal processes:

1. Denitrification in low oxygen enviroment involves bacteria that performed nitrification which reduced ammonia to nitrite then nitrate. The nitrate molecule, NO4 is reduced to a free nitrogen gas while Faculative bacteria break apart the oxygen molecule and consume it for respiration. The Monaco Aquarium operates a Jaubert Plenum and uses water exchange from the Mediterranean Sea.to better illustrate the process.

2. Cryptic refugiums uses sponges to recycle DOC into carbon rich detritus which feeds the microbial loop. If you wish to see filter feeding inverts, I suggest you focus on the microbial loop for a more sustainable ecosystem.

Cryptic refugium & DOC Recycling Using Sponge Loop & Microbial Loop

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.12758 Summary Corals and macroalgae release large quantities of dissolved organic matter (DOM), one of the largest sources of organic matter produced on coral reefs. By rapidly taking up DOM and transforming it into...

www.reef2reef.com

PS: While not getting deep into the science, this vendor link outlines differrent processes that remove excess nutrients frinm the water with some nutrient recycling.

What Are the Best Ways to Lower Nitrate Levels in Your Aquarium?

As an aquarium and fish owner, it’s no surprise that you want to provide the best possible conditions for your underwater pets. Aquarists and hobbyists alike

www.cermedia.com