dont let it. The parameters are general guidelines. every tank is different.
My highest growth was low alk, high No and Po. upon further research(not forums), its not unusual.
High nitrates
- Thread starter slipknotgrrl83
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My highest growth was low alk, high No and Po. upon further research(not forums), its not unusual.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Every few minutes?
Now sure of the issue you are concerned with. Water changes are not the best way to deal with nitrate long term.
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slipknotgrrl83
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Phew, that's reassuring, I'll do another water change in a few days and clean sump. If everything is fine I guess I can relax for now and just monitor and kick up maintenance
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slipknotgrrl83
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I meant maybe one every 3 days just to get it lower, I am working on pin pointing where it's coming from, I have a suspicion it's either over feeding or from gunk in my sump which I will clean this week
yup, look at Randy's article there again and find a method that's easy for you.
dgrigor02
Active Member
Fish create ammonia so nitrates are going to build up as part of the biological. Skimmer can't really remove dissolved mostly just organics so that is of little help for nitrates. Liverock alone there just isn't enough anerobic zones to keep up with nitrates. What your seeing is pretty typical.
You need to incorporate some method for nitrate reduction like Randy says. You can probably get by with it in a nano if you willing to do a pretty agressive water change schedule. The larger the tank it just is not realistic to use water changes for nitrates.
Goniopora aren't the easiest corals and could very well be unrelated to your perceived nitrate problem. As long as algae isn't an issue, livestock doing well I would tend to just not worry about it.
You need to incorporate some method for nitrate reduction like Randy says. You can probably get by with it in a nano if you willing to do a pretty agressive water change schedule. The larger the tank it just is not realistic to use water changes for nitrates.
Goniopora aren't the easiest corals and could very well be unrelated to your perceived nitrate problem. As long as algae isn't an issue, livestock doing well I would tend to just not worry about it.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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There is certainly nothing wrong with accelerating water changes to make a quick impact on nitrate.
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slipknotgrrl83
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Yeah I guess I'm just over reacting. All other corals open, no sign of stress in them or fish. Goni is closed but I have been having issues with it for months. Def not an easy coral
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I had a 75 gallon with a canister filter on it years ago and I would of been tickled pink to have 50ppm nitrates.
Mine were between 100 and higher than the test kit went and never lost a fish and my soft corals grew very fast.
Now I have a sump and feed heavy and can't get them above 0. My main problem was the gunk inside my rock and not enough flow I cleaned my canister weekly.
Mine were between 100 and higher than the test kit went and never lost a fish and my soft corals grew very fast.
Now I have a sump and feed heavy and can't get them above 0. My main problem was the gunk inside my rock and not enough flow I cleaned my canister weekly.
john.m.cole3
cyclOps
I have NO3 of 40 and PO4 of .042 as of today/ I mostly have LPS and they are all extended and puffed up big lately. I got worried just like most would that nitrates that high are bad, right. But nothing bad is happening to my corals. I brought my alkalinity up to 10.9 since there were nutrients in the water. No bleaching. I'm going to hold it at 10 dkh for a few months asee what happens. All I'm getting at is it's ok to have nitrates and high alkalinity. 
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I have NO3 of 40 and PO4 of .042 as of today/ I mostly have LPS and they are all extended and puffed up big lately. I got worried just like most would that nitrates that high are bad, right. But nothing bad is happening to my corals. I brought my alkalinity up to 10.9 since there were nutrients in the water. No bleaching. I'm going to hold it at 10 dkh for a few months asee what happens. All I'm getting at is it's ok to have nitrates and high alkalinity.
The usual concern, aside from algae, is increased zoox levels in the coral that may make them browner than otherwise.
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slipknotgrrl83
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Cool, I'm glad all yours are doing good like mine. I think us reefers just tend to overreact if we don't have textbook parametersI have NO3 of 40 and PO4 of .042 as of today/ I mostly have LPS and they are all extended and puffed up big lately. I got worried just like most would that nitrates that high are bad, right. But nothing bad is happening to my corals. I brought my alkalinity up to 10.9 since there were nutrients in the water. No bleaching. I'm going to hold it at 10 dkh for a few months asee what happens. All I'm getting at is it's ok to have nitrates and high alkalinity.
