Putting a cut piece of a dead fish in the water as a form of a fertilizer for macroalgae

[HAAAAAAAA]

I read that this was really controversial, but after trying out this method, I've had a certain type of tube algae take over my whole rock in just a week, but I do not have fish in the tank because I had a ich outbreak about a month or 2 ago.

The question I wanted to ask is, if I do this will the nutrients build up or will the algae suck it all up?

Will the algae take up the ammonia faster than it can affect the fish?

Can the lack of phosphorus also stunt macro?

 

[Dan_P]

I read that this was really controversial, but after trying out this method, I've had a certain type of tube algae take over my whole rock in just a week, but I do not have fish in the tank because I had a ich outbreak about a month or 2 ago.

The question I wanted to ask is, if I do this will the nutrients build up or will the algae suck it all up?

Will the algae take up the ammonia faster than it can affect the fish?

Can the lack of phosphorus also stunt macro?

It depends on how much algae there is and how big the piece of fish is. By the way, I don’t understand why you put the piece of fish in your aquarium.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

It depends on how much algae there is and how big the piece of fish is. By the way, I don’t understand why you put the piece of fish in your aquarium.

I did it after seeing the spike of this algae which I believe is a type of macro from my live rocks after a death of some new snails, i tried growing this guy before but to no avail even with chaetogro and ferrion, i only saw him bloom to this state after a piece of rotting fish

 

[Miami Reef]

What’s the nitrate and phosphate readings?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

To Miami’s presumed point, the additives you tried added no N or P. Instead of a dead fish, adding some nutrients might have been a cleaner way to go.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

What’s the nitrate and phosphate readings?

Phosphate is quite low at 0.03 due to there not being any fish for about 1 or 2 months and quite high nitrates at about 80 since I didn't do any maintenance in that time, i believe the less phosphate levels was the reason I am currently having a bloom of cyanoalgae on my sand bed

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

To Miami’s presumed point, the additives you tried added no N or P. Instead of a dead fish, adding some nutrients might have been a cleaner way to go.

I should've maybe added some phosphates instead of the dead fish, definitely a right point, but I did want to see the difference, since there wasn't any fish to begin with i didn't see anything which could go wrong

Though is it true that plants absorb ammonia better than nitrates? If yes, is it possible to dose ammonia in low amounts in which they don't harm fish?

 

[Miami Reef]

Though is it true that plants absorb ammonia better than nitrates? If yes, is it possible to dose ammonia in low amounts in which they don't harm fish?

Yes. Algae, like corals, prefer ammonia over nitrate. It’s easier for them to utilize. You can dose ammonium for them with the fish in the tank. The dose will be lower, spread throughout the day.

Any excess ammonia will turn into nitrate, so you can use nitrate tests to gauge how much ammonium to dose. If you see nitrate rising, you’ll know your algae has enough to thrive.

You’ll never want to dose very large amounts of ammonium at once. This thread has all the info you’ll need to get started:

 

[Miami Reef]

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

Yes. Algae, like corals, prefer ammonia over nitrate. It’s easier for them to utilize. You can dose ammonium for them with the fish in the tank. The dose will be lower, spread throughout the day.

Any excess ammonia will turn into nitrate, so you can use nitrate tests to gauge how much ammonium to dose. If you see nitrate rising, you’ll know your algae has enough to thrive.

You’ll never want to dose very large amounts of ammonium at once. This thread has all the info you’ll need to get started:

I appreciate the information! Though i would like to ask, what is the type of ammonia that they use better? And what is the type of ammonia which derives from rotting fish?

 

[Miami Reef]

I appreciate the information! Though i would like to ask, what is the type of ammonia that they use better? And what is the type of ammonia which derives from rotting fish?

The best is ammonium bicarbonate. In seawater with our pH, it turns into ammonia by itself.

Buying actual ammonia is difficult and expensive. It is in a dangerous liquid form. I’ll try to find that post about how buying actual ammonia isn’t for us, but ammonium bicarbonate is all you need. It’s equivalent to adding fish ammonia.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

The best is ammonium bicarbonate. In seawater with our pH, it turns into ammonia by itself.

Buying actual ammonia is difficult and expensive. It is in a dangerous liquid form. I’ll try to find that post about how buying actual ammonia isn’t for us, but ammonium bicarbonate is all you need. It’s equivalent to adding fish ammonia.

Thank you! Would this suffice? And what are the dosages for this?

 

[Miami Reef]

Thank you! Would this suffice? And what are the dosages for this?

No. You need to get food-grade.

This is perfect: https://a.co/d/6aN1ji4

 

[Miami Reef]

20 grams of ammonium bicarbonate (about 4 and 3/4 teaspoons) in 1 L RO/DI water.

To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.

Those are the instructions found in the article I posted above.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

Those are the instructions found in the article I posted above.

This was by far the only food grade ammonium bicarbonate I could find besides the "biscuit salts" what do you think?

 

[Miami Reef]

This was by far the only food grade ammonium bicarbonate I could find besides the "biscuit salts" what do you think?

That’s perfect.

 

[Miami Reef]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

I can’t find our conversation from years ago when you said buying actual ammonia isn’t really possible. If my memory serves me right, you said something like actual ammonia is a pressurized vapor in a glass container.

Can you remind me the chemical state and storage of actual ammonia?

 

[I never finish anythi]

I don't understand what you are trying to achieve here . You say your nitrate is at 80 so why are you adding ammonia?? You say the phosphate is low shouldn't you be raising them ? Or am my missing something?

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

I don't understand what you are trying to achieve here . You say your nitrate is at 80 so why are you adding ammonia?? You say the phosphate is low shouldn't you be raising them ? Or am my missing something?

What i am trying to achieve is macroalgae growth. I've personally found that the type of macro algae species which i am growing consumes ammonia more readily so i am letting it grow as big enough to be able to consume all my nitrates

 

[I never finish anythi]

What i am trying to achieve is macroalgae growth. I've personally found that the type of macro algae species which i am growing consumes ammonia more readily so i am letting it grow as big enough to be able to consume all my nitrates

Ok fair enough, but wouldn't nitrates at 80 and say phosphate at .5 grow it ?