High nitrates or not

[Keith Hill]

The expiry is August 2017

 

[Keith Hill]

Ya I'm lost. There is no way by the look of my corals and fish I'm 64+

 

[Keith Hill]

Both the display and afrag tank measured that

 

[Keith Hill]

Please don't mind the salt on the glass i was moving frags

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

That is very strange. I don't believe you have that level of nitrates, either. You could purchase a Salifert test for $15 to compare. Do the water start to turn a color as soon as the third reagent is added?

BTW, I love your red and green Trachyphyllia! Wish mine looked that good :/

 

[McArcher]

Please don't mind the salt on the glass i was moving frags

What's the deal with the rock you have wrapped in mesh?

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

So this is going to sound like some strange advice but what I would do in your case is pick up some of the nitrate test strips. They won't be quite as accurate but the are very easy to read and pretty much impossible to mess up. You can use them to find out if your which one of your test kits are off.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I'd bet the Red Sea kit is off for some reason Looking at those tanks, I don't believe the 64 ppm nitrate, but I could buy the 5.5 ppm measurement.

 

[Keith Hill]

That is very strange. I don't believe you have that level of nitrates, either. You could purchase a Salifert test for $15 to compare. Do the water start to turn a color as soon as the third reagent is added?

BTW, I love your red and green Trachyphyllia! Wish mine looked that good :/

Thanks I will have to maybe order a new test kit. The trachyphyllia is fed every other day with brine or mysis shrimp.

 

[Keith Hill]

What's the deal with the rock you have wrapped in mesh?

It's a pod condo for my mandarin and leopard wrasse. I have one in the front and one in the back. Also have ones in the over flow and sump that I swap out on water change days. Works great. They got skinny so I looked into this. Nice and fat now

 

[Keith Hill]

I'd bet the Red Sea kit is off for some reason Looking at those tanks, I don't believe the 64 ppm nitrate, but I could buy the 5.5 ppm measurement.

Ya I would still like it lower for the sps but that's not a horrible number.

 

[Keith Hill]

So this is going to sound like some strange advice but what I would do in your case is pick up some of the nitrate test strips. They won't be quite as accurate but the are very easy to read and pretty much impossible to mess up. You can use them to find out if your which one of your test kits are off.

Great idea. I am off to the fish store today anyways

 

[Pmj]

JME, but 60 nitrates isn't going to kill anything, you'd just not get great colors. Euphilia & zoas would be perfectly happy. But I would get another test to confirm.

 

[Keith Hill]

JME, but 60 nitrates isn't going to kill anything, you'd just not get great colors. Euphilia & zoas would be perfectly happy. But I would get another test to confirm.

I agree Zoas would be fine but i would think my sps species would be dead. I tested last night with a seachem and I got 5.5-6 when the other was 64+. Tests done within a half he of each other

 

[dgrigor02]

By looking at that instruction sheet. Red Sea Pro test is not for me. Waiting 9 min ? You know how sidetracked I can get in 9min ? I can't speak for accuracy but Salifert is way less complicated.

 

[K100286]

Some very successful hobbyists have high NO3. Rich Ross posted his readings last week and his NO3 was 41. NO4 was 1.17 or 1.27. There is a long thread on this forum regarding high nutrients which pretty much debunkes the notion that sps only do well in low nutrient tanks.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

Your nitrate is not that high, LPS and zoas will love you for sure. I used to register 80ppm nitrate for more than one year and corals are dancing. Some SPS especially dark colored one can tolerate under rich nutrient level provided that your alk are above 9 and other parameters are good.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I know my Hollywood stunner did well in <<1ppm nitrates but is struggling in the 2-5 ppm I keep now.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

My alk was at 10 with elevated nitrate and I do grow sps to a palm sized colonies. Kenya tree overgrown my tank (18" high) before I sell it off. Most sps dies in a tank with high no3 due to low alk and intense light in my experience.

 

[K100286]

I agree that if NO3 is high you have to have the right balance for NO4. A lot of the best aquariums I have seen there is a large fish population that is heavily feed. This results in high NO3 and NO4, but is balanced and mature. Light intensity and alkinity also has to be accounted for esp. in sps tank. This is not an easy hobby i.e. there are many ways to succeed or fail.