Nitrates/snails/hair algae??

jaw88

jaw88

Member
Hello everybody,havent been on in awhile,but i have tested my water twice in the past couple months,and i was just wondering a few things. 1.Could my hair algae be the cause of high nitrates and nitrites? 2. My nitrates are between 20 and 50 ppm,and i heard that some snails will eat hair algae,but my question is this: If my nitrates are that high,would snails even survive if i were to buy a few right now? and if they did survive,would them eating the hair algae bring my nitrates and nitrites down to a better more safe level??
 
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TylerHaworth

Active Member
That is not a dangerously high level of nitrates, however it is too high : )

Your algae is actually taking nitrates out of the water so no, the snails will not actually lower your nitrate level.

I'm going to venture out and guess that there are potentially one or more of the following causing the high nitrates: tap water instead of RO/DI, overfeeding, poor mechanical filtration maintenance, insufficient flow, poor water change schedule... Fix all of these and your nutrient excess will be corrected.
 
jaw88

jaw88

Member
Its probably my water,it is tap water,like i bought a dechlorinator and use that everytime i add more water,but would snails be ok if i were to get some with the nitrates that high?
 
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TylerHaworth

Active Member
Your nitrates are high from your source water then, the snails won't directly lower your nitrates... They will however help control the algae that is feeding on the nitrates
 
jaw88

jaw88

Member
ok so if i were to go buy just a few snails,would they be ok do u think? they wont die on me will they?
 
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TylerHaworth

Active Member
I'm not going to say they won't die... Because well, they just might! But I wouldn't be worried about it... You really need to correct the high nitrate problem though.

If you're looking for snails, check out Reefcleaners.org... John is GREAT!
 
jaw88

jaw88

Member
ok,i suppose i will only buy a couple for now and see how they do,that way i dont waste a ton of money. Ill do a couple water changes and test it again,if my couple of snails dont make it then ill have to try using r/o water,if i can afford it anyway,thanks for ur help
 
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TylerHaworth

Active Member
If you're using tap water, water changes aren't going to (substantially) help your high nitrates... Again, I HIGHLY recommend reefcleaners... They send more than you order, at prices around 25% or less compared to what you'd pay elsewhere... Like I said... 20-50 ppm nitrates isn't a dangerous level at all for snails
 
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JulesVane

Member
Doing a water change with the same tap water won't lower your nitrates, and I agree that RO/DI systems not only are expensive to purchase, but also expensive to run considering the waste water they produce. (My water bill is already sky high!). May I suggest using distilled water from Wal-mart? It's only $.83 per gallon and has been great for my reef.
 
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TylerHaworth

Active Member
Homemade RO/DI is much cheaper per gallon than Distilled from Walmart in the long run... MUCH Cheaper, considering all top-off water you used and also the 10-20% weekly water changes... it adds up quickly... I

exhausted my RO membrane once and had to use Distilled from WalMart for two weeks... 10-12 gallons per week of topoff water plus a 10 gallon water change per week... 20-22 gallons per week is near 20$ Every single week if you're purchasing at Walmart...

Add that up and see how long it takes to make a RO/DI unit "expensive"
 
GrendelPrime

GrendelPrime

Well-Known Member
all the water changes in the world arent gonna drop ur trates if there comming in from ur tap water, u didnt mention a sump but if u have one another way to help lower ur trates would be to use macro algae as a neutrient export
 
J

JulesVane

Member
Considering my 90 gal. tank evaporates exactly 1 gal. per day and I change 10 gals. every weekend (17 gals.) and my Kent Marine RO Unit produces 25 gals. per day and WASTES 100 gals. while making it, and I have municiple water/sewer at $4.50 per cubic foot...Walmart is CHEAP! Answer: 1 ft³ = 7.48051 gal(US Liq) That's $74.25 for 25 gals. of RO water by my calculations compared to 25 gals. of distilled water from Walmart for $20.75. This may not be a factor for those not paying for their water, but it is for me.
 
crass

crass

Member
Move to Norway water is FREE! that is no lie!

But surely you would re-use that 100gal waste to water plants, do dishes, wash the car....etc? and If you did that surely it becomes cheeper again to buy a unit? just a thought I would open that debate...lol

Dean
 
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yvr

Member
Algae problems are usually caused by aquarium water with excess nutrients like phosphate and in your case nitrates.
You can try and siphon out what you can to remove the algae in the short term. In the long term you may have to examine how you care for your tank. There are some commercial dry foods also contain excess nutrients and other undesirable things like nitrates, phosphates etc so I strain/rinse my fresh/frozen foods before feeding my tank. You may want to consider feeding your fish less often. Also using RO/DI water and a high quality salt with minimal NO3, phosphates etc like Tropic Marin will really help too. Having better waterflow around the problem areas on your substrate may be another helpful tip reduce the algae onnce your nitrates have gone down.
 
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