I agree with you that prevention is 90% of the cure to problematic algea outbreaks. I also believe that algea outbreaks are an inevitable part of this hobby due to the nature of the closed systems we run. Prevention can come in many forms, good nutrient export, replacing lights when their spectrums start to fade, not overfeeding, and not overstocking just to name a few of the more obvious ones.
The water we start out with is very definantly the first and formost thing we should look at. I have started more than one saltwater aquarium setup with different salt mixes and RO/DI water. Each and every one has started the cycle with a diatom bloom. Diatoms are as you know a form of eukaryotic algea.
Where do the nutrients for this algea bloom come from? I started a tank with nothing but lace rock, sterile sand and about 10 pounds of live rock from my 55 to start the cycle. (which had only been in the 55 for about a month to get a good bacteria population started so the rock was not saturated with detritus) The result was the same as with a tank cycled with live rock: A diatom bloom. The nutrients to fuel their growth were imported to the tank from somewhere. My guess is that it came from the salt mix and the live rock. I may be totaly off base with the reasoning behind this but I can't believe that the nutrients that fuel the initial diatom bloom just magicaly import themselves into my tank. The salt used to start this particular tank was bio sea marine mix. After about a year (using the same salt and doing weekly 25% water changes) I had a hair algea outbreak. The solution to that problem was the addition of a Sallylight foot crab which made short work of the algea and kept it in check for another six months. The tank is about to be torn down and started over again with basicaly the same procedure. This was due to a recent move and an extremely irritating outbreak of aptasia. I will be using all new lace rock and sand and I will try a different salt mix maybe reef crystals just to see if the same thing happens again. My guess is that the outcome will be very similar, a diatom bloom within the first few days.
My intent in this post is not to create a debate about which salt mix is best, it is to share an experience that I have personally had and hopefully shed some light on where nuisance algea comes from and how to get rid of it. My personal favorite way of eleminating unwanted algea is to use natural methods (algea eating fish and or inverts) proper maintinance and good husbandy techniques.
Patrick you said that some salt mixes use gypsum in their mixes. Isn't gypsum calcium sulfate? Is this the main ingredient for the calcium source in the mix? What are some of the other sources for calcium in SSW mixes?
I also would like to hear more of the specifics of what the three salt manufacturers had to say about their products.
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