Nitrates

[christa1421]

What range do you aim to keep your nitrates at? I know the preferred range is 1-10, but 1-20 is tolerable. I have both fish and coral (softies and LPS’s). This the first time after a water change that my nitrates did not go down, they actually went up. So I’m not sure if I’m possibly overfeeding or maybe had a bad test. I changed the water last night and tested parameters tonight. I used new reagents for Hanna nitrate (high range). Just wanted to get an idea of where most of you keep your nitrates at…and do you use this as a guide to determine when a water change is needed; or do you stick to regular scheduled water changes? I have been sticking to a schedule of 15g every 2 weeks, regardless what the nitrate is. Maybe I’ll retest just to double check.

 

[Uncle99]

5-20ppm or whatever your system likes running at in that band.
Stability is most important.
Match phosphate at 0.93-.15ppm, it’s just as important.
I might use 1-3ppm in an SPS only tank, otherwise to low.
Your 11 ish area seems like to good place to be, it’s reasonably consistent.

 

[christa1421]

5-20ppm or whatever your system likes running at in that band.
Stability is most important.
Match phosphate at 0.93-.15ppm, it’s just as important.
I might use 1-3ppm in an SPS only tank, otherwise to low.
Your 11 ish area seems like to good place to be, it’s reasonably consistent.

Here’s my phosphate trends