Are "0" Nitrates a myth?

[under10minutes]

I often read that people have 0 Nitrates in their system. I have always had 40-60. Guys at the LFS told me not to panic so I haven't. I have slowly been identifying different sources of Nitrates and have been eliminating them one by one. Now my trates are roughly 20-30. I would love to get down to 0 but i'm not sure if it's possible.

I'm hoping that MR can help me identify additional sources of Nitrates that I haven't thought about. Question: After performing the following how long should it take before I see a difference in Nitrate levels when testing?

Here's what I've done so far.

• Replaced Filter Sock
• Vacuumed Sand Bed
• Removed Crush Coral from Refugium (currently bare bottom)
• Added Cheato to Refugium
• Drained liquid from frozen food before putting in tank
• Feeding Less
• 20% Water Changes - 2/Month

 

[Arati]

O ates is not a myth but it is a somewhat unrealistic goal. IMO if you did get your system to 0 on a good test kit or photometer you would be unhappy with the sterile look of the tank and have trouble growing many corals that come from a less clean place. one that jumps to mind is elegance coral but many other corals live in non reef crest conditions

regardless here is a 0 nitrate recipe.

Huge skimmer , some people say to big will never skim right. I disagree and I suggest you drop $ and buy the biggest skimmer you can.

Brs Dual reactor and gfo / carbon lots of carbon.

no filter pads or socks of any kind. clean your fuge and vacume it regularly. find the dead spots where dirty builds up and vacume it.

10% water change weekly. test nitrate before WC.

Unless you have a BIG fuge no cheato no plants it just does the same thing as a filter pad. nothing should obstruct the dirt from getting to the skimmer.

that is all you need to do. in 2 mo you will have low nitrate.

 

[timberwolfny]

Big believer of biopellets or carbon dosing have zero nitrates since I have started using it and have continue using it on my new tank works wonders.

 

[duke62]

Why would anyone shoot for 0 nitrates? Your corals especially SPS will have a ugly pastel look to them and your LPS will grow very slowly and not be as healthy. Shoot for 5 to 10 PPM and your good

 

[Waleedwale1]

Why would anyone shoot for 0 nitrates? Your corals especially SPS will have a ugly pastel look to them and your LPS will grow very slowly and not be as healthy. Shoot for 5 to 10 PPM and your good

+1 there needs to be a balance, many corals like leathers and zoas use nitrates or grow faster with them.

 

[under10minutes]

O ates is not a myth but it is a somewhat unrealistic goal. IMO if you did get your system to 0 on a good test kit or photometer you would be unhappy with the sterile look of the tank and have trouble growing many corals that come from a less clean place. one that jumps to mind is elegance coral but many other corals live in non reef crest conditions

regardless here is a 0 nitrate recipe.

Huge skimmer , some people say to big will never skim right. I disagree and I suggest you drop $ and buy the biggest skimmer you can.

Brs Dual reactor and gfo / carbon lots of carbon.

no filter pads or socks of any kind. clean your fuge and vacume it regularly. find the dead spots where dirty builds up and vacume it.

10% water change weekly. test nitrate before WC.

Unless you have a BIG fuge no cheato no plants it just does the same thing as a filter pad. nothing should obstruct the dirt from getting to the skimmer.

that is all you need to do. in 2 mo you will have low nitrate.

Thank you for the info. Based on your formula im heading in the right direction. However i think you may have led me to another trate farm.

I have an external skimmer so water exiting the skimmer flows over the fuge to the return pump. Fuge is probably 15-18 gallons (not sure if thats classified as big). I do use Cheato because i heard it reduces nitrates. But from the sounds of it i may have a source of nitrates from build up on the Cheato itself.

 

[peteyboyny]

Are you using RO/di water? Vinegar dosing can help build bacteria levels up which in turn can help reduce excess nutrient levels. Like said above, 0 is achievable, but probably undesirable. I'd be more concerned about PO4.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Biologically speaking, "0" nitrates would result in a complete tank crash. Life would not be able to support itself in that environment. Anyone saying they have "0" nitrates would be more correct in saying that they have unreadable levels. The same goes for phosphates. You can't actually have "0" or you'd be curating an aquarium full of coral and fish skeletons.

 

[Dk638]

I've had undetectable nitrates for months and definitely not a great scenario.
My corals have definitely suffered. I've been trying to raise them and then I get
A hair algae bloom, which I have a little one right now after taking my skimmer
Off for a week. Corals actually look better now. I'm thinking of losing the chaeto and running the skimmer for just a few hours a day to see how that works.

 

[under10minutes]

Thank you all for your insight and feedback.

For the time being i've decided not to make any additional changes to my system. From what i'm gathering Nitrates are normal and beneficial in reasonable amounts. So why stress over a slightly above average Nitrate level? Not worth it.

Thx again.

 

[skene]

When you have nitrates rising, water changes help.

Just sayin....

 

[FastUno]

Shhhhhh I have a little secret. I have been secretly testing reefers water after frag purchases. I even test the LFS for nitrates & GUESS WHAT?

Not a single person or place has 0 nitrates. At least no one that I have tested so far

I have heard the same thing & believe it too. My corals & tank thrives, despite having low to moderate nitrate levels.

Key points to reducing nitrate & PO4 levels:
-Over skimming
-Not over feeding & clean food before introducing to tank
-Run PO4 & carbon
-clean & vacuum when needed & especially detritus magnet areas
-Don't overdue the photo period
-Don't introduce sunlight into tank
-Consistent water changes

 

[prattreef]

Modest NO3 levels @ 10ppm ( probably even higher ) have, IME, no appreciable negative effect on corals. Very low levels definitely do. However, modest NO3 levels combined with modest PO4 levels are a bad thing. I would spend much more of my effort keeping PO4 low and not sweat NO3 unless they really start getting upwards of 20ppm--and then largely because something is not right with your husbandry and other things are likely out of whack too.

 

[vio]

Yes, i got "0" Nitrate and Low PO4 , i guess just like coral reef places, or just like this guys ( Tank of the Month) i love to feed and watch, so, how u gone do that if u got 20-30 Nitrate and 0.50 PO4 ?? is all about Bacteria, if u got the right # (Bacteria) that way i dosing Vodka.