Nitrates

[nyshoots]

I have a very basic question about nitrates, how much is really to much ??? Lots of people say anything over 0 is to much but than there are alot of folks that say 0 nitrates is not a realistic target and that anything to 20 is really not that bad. Now I honeslty have no idea what 20ppm would do long term because im doing water changes once a week to keep it lower. So whats the real answer here ? Is anything over 0 really that bad ?

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[Og Drogon]

I have a very basic question about nitrates, how much is really to much ??? Lots of people say anything over 0 is to much but than there are alot of folks that say 0 nitrates is not a realistic target and that anything to 20 is really not that bad. Now I honeslty have no idea what 20ppm would do long term because im doing water changes once a week to keep it lower. So whats the real answer here ? Is anything over 0 really that bad ?

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I know what you mean. Mine stays at about 20 on bad days and 10 on good . I have a what I call "basic" reef, zoas,softies,and my fish tell me they are happy and my corals smile at me ;-).... But when you get into SPS and other more demanding corals and fish then ZERO would be perfect place to have your nitrates lol...
BTW: this is only one year experience ;-)


Fix Your Fin Or Get Your Fin Fixed!

 

[jnelson]

The soft corals like mushrooms, xenia, GSP, etc. and things like zoas/palys sometimes prefer "dirty" water - 20ppm wouldn't be a big deal. Running a FOWLR without coral or sensitive invertebrates gives you even more leeway than that.

If you're topping out at 20 then I really wouldn't be too concerned. Water changes once a week are good. Keep an eye on the dead spots in your tank and make sure you're blasting away any uneaten food, fish poop, etc. Also keep up with changes to your filter media (filter floss every week or so, carbon and other things every month).

 

[Dre]

I have a very basic question about nitrates, how much is really to much ??? Lots of people say anything over 0 is to much but than there are alot of folks that say 0 nitrates is not a realistic target and that anything to 20 is really not that bad. Now I honeslty have no idea what 20ppm would do long term because im doing water changes once a week to keep it lower. So whats the real answer here ? Is anything over 0 really that bad ?

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You have no idea because you are not testing for nitrates. If lots of people say anything over 0 is too much and alot of folks say anything up to 20 is not bad, 10 should be fine then.

 

[Dre]

You have no idea because you are not testing for nitrates. If lots of people say anything over 0 is too much and alot of folks say anything up to 20 is not bad, 10 should be fine then.

And btw that's 10 parts per million.

 

[nyshoots]

Im confused by what you mean when you say im not testing for nitates. Im testing my nitrates every week. What I had said was that I have no idea what would happen if I let my tank stay at 20 ppm on a regular basis because im doing water changes once a week to keep it down.

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[Pallobi]

all depends on what you keep... fish only, 20 is fine... softies, 20 is OK, and nothing more than OK, but still too high imo... LPS... a few, like 10 or less, is OK, and only OK, not good or perfect... and if you keep sps, well, you wont have any left if it hits 20, or 10 for that matter... jmho... GL

 

[ryangrieder]

what test kit are you using? im guess API.

on my OLD set up, a 72 bow, i have a real old thread about my nitrate issue if you want to look back. i use to use API test kit. it use to say i had well over 180. my tank was great. PACKED with coral, fish, inverts, you name it. ONLY issue i had was i could never grow coraline algae. did not care much though. but my nitrate issue was crazy. then i used it all from kordon, SERA, salifert, elos, everything. all of them MAXEDD out. never had issues with thriving corals/fish/inverts...
ALTHOUGH...i always felt like i was....missing something. i dont know why, i had it all, rock, coral, fish, good light, good filter...but something was always missing. it did not POP.

my current tank... a full new set up, has zero nitrates. all i can say is...it POPS.

so, i cannot say nitrates will harm anything, for me it NEVER did at least, but i will say... zero nitrates...thats where you want to be... and glad im there

 

[cryptics]

Ryan,

What did you differently to get rid of the Nitrates?

 

[Pallobi]

ryan, i am very curious as to what kind of corals you were able to keep alive with trates that high? i guessing softies? maybe some incredibly hardy lps??

 

[marrone]

You'll find that there are a number of people running SPS tanks with high nitrates, some much higher than 20, and have nice thriving tanks.

 

[strgazr27]

I'm trying to keep mine under 20 and find it almost impossible. I honestly don't know how those who claim zero Nitrates are doing it?

 

[Lunareclipse]

I'm trying to keep mine under 20 and find it almost impossible. I honestly don't know how those who claim zero Nitrates are doing it?

I agree. I am struggling to keep my tank under 20ppm.

 

[ryangrieder]

right now im at zero nitrate. i use the SERA test kits. love them. the complete kit is amazing. best kit ive ever purchased. ill even post pics if you want showing zero nitrates.

my changes were simple and works AMAZING.

First: RO WATER ALWAYS AND FOREVER. i use to use tap water. then i use to use 5 gallon water jugs i would buy for water changes. now i have an RODI unit and always use RO water.

Second: in my sump i got rid of all the stupid pads and sponges. all i run now is a simple filter sock. thats the ONLY media pad i run. besides that is just a reactor with carbon, and another reactor with GFO. but the reactors did not do it, it was throwing out all the sponges.

Third: my skimmer. i got rid of the S*** coralife skimmer and picked up a NAC 7. love it.

and last but not least: WATER CHANGESSSSSSSSSSSSS. (With ESV salt) 30% every week to two weeks....

if you go into my pictures in my profile, go all the way to the begining. you will see my 72bow in there and all pics of corals. no i did not have any SPS. only LPS and softies. i dont think there are any good pics showing all the coral, but some. leathers, rics, brains, acans, favias, p's & z's, euphyillia, GSP, rbta, things in that nature...

 

[Pallobi]

I'm trying to keep mine under 20 and find it almost impossible. I honestly don't know how those who claim zero Nitrates are doing it?

my system has been running for one year last month... i have never had any nitrates whatsoever...

very high and proper flow throughout entire system, LOW bio load w/o over feeding (which alot of people make the mistake of), powerful skimming and a properly setup deep sand bed or completely barebottom systems are a start... as well as regular water changes with properly filtered RO water, or even better RODI, as stated previously, large or small... and proper activated carbon use only helps the situation...

 

[Pallobi]

You'll find that there are a number of people running SPS tanks with high nitrates, some much higher than 20, and have nice thriving tanks.

do you keep a succesful sps tank with high nitrates? and by succesful, i mean color, not brown, with proper polyp extension and good consistant growth... it is understood throughout the hobby that sps do not do well with any amount of nitrates, except maybe a couple ppm and no more than that...

 

[ryangrieder]

do you keep a succesful sps tank with high nitrates? and by succesful, i mean color, not brown, and good consistant growth... it is understood throughout the hobby that sps do not do well with any amount of nitrates, except maybe a couple ppm and no more than that...

off the top of my head...i know of 5 people, on here, that have beautiful set ups. loaded with SPS and some LPS on bottom. from purples to blues to greens to pinks. all of them over 80ppm nitrate...

 

[Pallobi]

off the top of my head...i know of 5 people, on here, that have beautiful set ups. loaded with SPS and some LPS on bottom. from purples to blues to greens to pinks. all of them over 80ppm nitrate...

i would love to see some links to them as this would be a real eye opener for me... and i am always open to new things... any links or pics?

 

[ryangrieder]

i would love to see some links to them as this would be a real eye opener for me... and i am always open to new things... any links or pics?

give me a few and ill round some up...

 

[strgazr27]

my system has been running for one year last month... i have never had any nitrates whatsoever...

very high and proper flow throughout entire system, LOW bio load w/o over feeding (which alot of people make the mistake of), powerful skimming and a properly setup deep sand bed or completely barebottom systems are a start... as well as regular water changes with properly filtered RO water, or even better RODI, as stated previously, large or small... and proper activated carbon use only helps the situation...

Approximate 90 gallon system. Triton 5, 3 koralias, no pads or sponges except for a 100 micron sock that gets changed out weekly while doing 10% water changes using Reef Crystals and RO/DI water. 2 reactors, 1 w Carbon and 1 w Phosban swapped out every 2 weeks. 2-3" sand bed in fuge. Cheato and 2 lbs of rubble. NAC5 skimmer. Tanks has a total of 5 damsels totaling about 10-12" of fish .Still average 10-15ppm. Have been told by a few people the tank looks great. Still not Zero though. To those that are zero I commend you