7.5 alk with 5-10 nitrates. is this ok?

[fishmonkey]

so ive been looking into the correlation between alkalinity and nitrates recently and wanted to pin down a good number for my tank. somewhat recently i let my tank go to 7.5 alk because thats around what my salt mixes at, but i have nitrates around 5-10.

should i raise my alkalinity to around 8.5?

because technically from what i read 7.5 is for 0-5 nitrates.

 

[Rmckoy]

I maintain 7.5 dkh ,
Cal 425
Nitrates <5 ppm but 5-10 is my target
And phosphates between 0.03 and 0.1

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

so ive been looking into the correlation between alkalinity and nitrates recently and wanted to pin down a good number for my tank. somewhat recently i let my tank go to 7.5 alk because thats around what my salt mixes at, but i have nitrates around 5-10.

should i raise my alkalinity to around 8.5?

because technically from what i read 7.5 is for 0-5 nitrates.

Not sure what you are reading, but there's no desire to base your target alkalinity on the actual nitrate (IMO) except if you are in the higher alk ranges (say, 9-11), you want to be sure to maintain adequate N and P to ensure that certain SPS do not get burnt tips, which may be due to their skeletons growing faster than the tissue can keep up.

For any reef tank at any alk, I recommend 2-10 ppm nitrate and 0.02 to 0.1 ppm phosphate.