What should I expect.

Alex's Nano Reef · May 26, 2023

I’m going to be doing a large scale removal of bubble algae from my tank. I have a ton of it infesting almost every inch of my tank. I’m worried about the possible effects of this on my nutrient levels and I was wondering if any of you know what I should expect and what I can do to counteract those effects and minimize nutrient swings during this process.

Jax3545 · May 27, 2023

Alex's Nano Reef said:
I’m going to be doing a large scale removal of bubble algae from my tank. I have a ton of it infesting almost every inch of my tank. I’m worried about the possible effects of this on my nutrient levels and I was wondering if any of you know what I should expect and what I can do to counteract those effects and minimize nutrient swings during this process.

I've pulled and scrubbed rock in old water during a water change. One thing I missed was adding beneficial bacteria. So I had the same problem repeat itself a week later. I didn't do well with lights out, it turned out to be a very temporary fix. I just bought a bunch of copepods as I'm starting to see some turf algae (tanks 8 months old.)
I hope that helps. I've been pretty good at bad ideas in the past.

Alex's Nano Reef · May 27, 2023

Jax3545 said:
I've pulled and scrubbed rock in old water during a water change. One thing I missed was adding beneficial bacteria. So I had the same problem repeat itself a week later. I didn't do well with lights out, it turned out to be a very temporary fix. I just bought a bunch of copepods as I'm starting to see some turf algae (tanks 8 months old.)
I hope that helps. I've been pretty good at bad ideas in the past.

I’m more worried about large nutrient swings and how they might be triggered by a large scale manual removal session of this bubble algae.

jda · May 27, 2023

Your residual no3 and po4 could go up a bit, but maybe not. The bubble algae are consuming some, but there is no way to know if they were outcompeting things that now might like to have some ammonium and phosphorous now too.

Just have some quality test kits on hand and pay attention.