Some random newbie questions about Nitrates and QT

[LMDAVE]

These two questions are completely unrelated but I'll ask both.

I'm about one month into my first reef tank, and cycle is complete. (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate ~10 PPM) My question about Nitrates is what should I expect them to start doing from here on out? I read a lot post of people having 0 nitrates, should I expect that eventually? Does this just happen from a series of water changes over time and proteins skimmers, live rock, etc, not allowing them to build up? Just curious how it gets down to 0 or <1.

My second question about QT tanks, I want to keep one up for new arrivals and only dose copper if needed. But, Once you've dosed copper and finished medication cycle and want your QT to back to a normal non medicated tank does that require complete drain the QT , cleaning it and starting it over?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Most people that have 0 nitrates either have an algae issue already present or they are overdoing it with a refugium and chaetomorpha setup. 0 nitrates isn't good for some corals as well which is why most folks shoot for 5 ppm.

My second question about QT tanks, I want to keep one up for new arrivals and only dose copper if needed. But, Once you've dosed copper and finished medication cycle and want your QT to back to a normal non medicated tank does that require complete drain the QT , cleaning it and starting it over?

In most instances, yes. However, any aquarium treated with copper should never be reused to house inverts and corals since even a little residual copper could meddle with things.

 

[LMDAVE]

Thanks. Yeah even if I was doing 50% water changes (which is way more than I'm expecting to do on a normal basis) that would only be cutting it in half each time. So, I hope to see it just gradually go down to the 5 range then.

About the QT, this will mainly be a QT for fish only/new arrivals in the future, so didnt know to what extent I had to do to get the copper out once dosed with it.

 

[Idoc]

I keep a dedicated fish QT... but, i drain it and clean it out between uses.
10ppm nitrates after completing a cycle is pretty darn good. I was around 80-100 after my cycle. Water changes will bring them down.

 

[rockstarta78]

I'm about one month into my first reef tank, and cycle is complete. (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate ~10 PPM) My question about Nitrates is what should I expect them to start doing from here on out? I read a lot post of people having 0 nitrates, should I expect that eventually? Does this just happen from a series of water changes over time and proteins skimmers, live rock, etc, not allowing them to build up? Just curious how it gets down to 0 or <1. To an extent yes. Lots of WC, Protein Skimmer, Live rock all that overtime will help you reach near 0ppm NO3. However, IMHO I don't think that's ever a good thing. I try to maintain my No3 around 5ish .........10ppm max. But you need to keep PO4 in check as well. I personally like keeping 0.02ppm PO4. Some people find success with 0 ppm NO3/PO4 (ULNS), I never had that much luck.

My second question about QT tanks, I want to keep one up for new arrivals and only dose copper if needed. But, Once you've dosed copper and finished medication cycle and want your QT to back to a normal non medicated tank does that require complete drain the QT , cleaning it and starting it over? If you want your tank to get back to "normal" I'd do a deep cleaning with Vinegar. That includes tank and any equipment used during the treatment