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I recently had an outbreak of cyano, managed to get rid of most of that after a long and dedicated process, and now i have brown hairlike algae (long, thin strands up to 4 inches with a few "clumps" in some of the strands).
My question is....I had decently high nitrates for a while (20ish). I got it down to 5 after several large water changes. A few days later, and around the same time the hair algae was showing up, my nitrates went to 0 on their own. They have stayed at 0 for over a week and a half. I'm using an API test kit to test nitrates, and while I know they are not the best tests, I doubt the reading would be this odd out of nowhere.
1. Is the algae consuming the nitrates, and I really have more than what I am able to read?
or
2. Could this be nothing to worry about, and the tank could be balancing out somehow?
Any input is greatly appreciated!
Also, for more information, the tank is roughly 4 to 6 months old (I have a log book but not handy at the moment). I have 2 Ocellaris clownfish, 5 peppermint shrimp, and recently added 4 mexican turbo snails (who have been taking care of algae on the rocks quite impressively, just not the "hair" part). My nitrites and Ammonia are both 0. I use RO water from my LFS (creation reef&aquatics). My pH is 8.4, SG is 1.025, and temperature is 80F. I have Aquaticlife t5 HO lights, a Hydor Koralia 420, and another powerhead on an opposite side of the tank.
My question is....I had decently high nitrates for a while (20ish). I got it down to 5 after several large water changes. A few days later, and around the same time the hair algae was showing up, my nitrates went to 0 on their own. They have stayed at 0 for over a week and a half. I'm using an API test kit to test nitrates, and while I know they are not the best tests, I doubt the reading would be this odd out of nowhere.
1. Is the algae consuming the nitrates, and I really have more than what I am able to read?
or
2. Could this be nothing to worry about, and the tank could be balancing out somehow?
Any input is greatly appreciated!
Also, for more information, the tank is roughly 4 to 6 months old (I have a log book but not handy at the moment). I have 2 Ocellaris clownfish, 5 peppermint shrimp, and recently added 4 mexican turbo snails (who have been taking care of algae on the rocks quite impressively, just not the "hair" part). My nitrites and Ammonia are both 0. I use RO water from my LFS (creation reef&aquatics). My pH is 8.4, SG is 1.025, and temperature is 80F. I have Aquaticlife t5 HO lights, a Hydor Koralia 420, and another powerhead on an opposite side of the tank.
