GraffitiSpotCorals May 31, 2011 Share May 31, 2011 Just wondering where you keep your nitrates at. The new tank developed some nitrates (dunno if it was the new sand or the fact that there is no longer a deep sand bed, probly the absence of the sand bed). They were at 20 for the past month and now are down to 15. All the coral looks really good. The old tanks never had much nitrates in them at all so it was kinda scary to find them so high in the new one. Just wondering if there are any tips anyone has, or what your experiences with nitrates are. I have read a lot of stuff where people debate keeping them at 0 or around 10. I am guessing whatever you keep it at the key is keeping it stable. The new 210 has 16 fish and I started running rawaphos which works amazing. When I found the nitrates were high I threw in some kent nitrate sponge may be working by now, don't know much about it and not sure if I should keep it in the sump or take it out once the levels go down. I am using a big skimmer and total water volume is about 260. Trying to keep this tank as simple as I possibly can and so far I am happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Ivers May 31, 2011 Share May 31, 2011 I have 250ml of WM EcoBak pellets on my 55g sps dominated tank. They combined with a beast skimmer for it (RO NWB 150) keep my nitrates around 0.2 at most on a Salifert kit. Key is definitely stable parameters. Chemi-Pure elite also can help with nitrate and phosphate problems. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotasreef May 31, 2011 Share May 31, 2011 I'm sure with the new setup things got stirred up some. Give it some time and it should drop. I run vertex bio pellets and my nitrates are 0. There are some articles that say you should have some small amounts of nitrates for sps. I have seen no adverse effects from keeping them low and have great colors and growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 1, 2011 Author Share June 1, 2011 Yea I am sure it will keep dropping, I doubt I will try any other ways of getting rid of them unless they start to go back up. We have always had good luck keeping them low naturally. Now I have started thinking about filling up a little 5 gallon with sand and throwing it in the sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 1, 2011 Author Share June 1, 2011 I figure most of you have yours close to zero I would like to hear from anyone who keeps them higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 2, 2011 Share June 2, 2011 Some people have been saying now that it's good to have nitrate around 5 ppm as opposed to zero. There was a post here not long ago that included discussion of the thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 2, 2011 Author Share June 2, 2011 I tried looking around for it, can you see if you can find the thread for me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 3, 2011 Share June 3, 2011 I can't find it now. Maybe I saw it on RC because I was looking there recently, but I am nearly certain it was here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 3, 2011 Author Share June 3, 2011 There was one on RC and they closed it for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 3, 2011 Share June 3, 2011 (edited) Nitrate level corresponds to nutrient level. When there is nitrate in the water, we know there are nutrients present and that our tank creatures are getting enough food. When there is zero nitrate in the tank, it's not that easy to know if the nutrient level is adequate for optimal health. Maintaining a low level of nitrate gives people re-assurance that they are putting enough nutrients in the tank instead of starving their tank inhabitants. So whether or not a person decides to maintain a zero nitrate situation, would boil down to how certain a person wants to be that he or she is not starving the tank. If you know for certain that there are adequate nutrients, you can rule out a nutrient-poor situation as a cause of poor coral growth, pale coloration, and health problems. Of course it's always possible that there is a nitrate source other than new addition of nutrients, or else nutrients locked in some spot where livestock can't use them... such as sponges, bioballs, and old liverock that has accumulated a lot of detritus where it can't simply be blown off. So get rid of sponges, biolballs, canister filters, regularly blow off the rockwork with a turkey baster, and keep your sumps clean (I do my water changes by draining my sump, and before putting new water in I wipe the bottom and other surfaces to remove detritus that has settled). Edited June 3, 2011 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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