What do you keep your Nitrates at?

[Brian W]

My tank is 1.5 years old and for the last month my Nitrates have been at 0 and my Phosphates were at 0.08 according to my Triton test. I have sps and seems like the color is starting to dull. I have not done a WC in a couple weeks. I feed 1 cube of LRS Reef Frenzy daily which I bumped up to 2 a day now.
I run a fuge with the Kessil H380 and dry skim. What should I try and keep my nitrates at? Im guessing 5-10

Its funny I could not wait to have 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates and no algae...now I'm here and I want Nitrates again.

 

[gfordQC]

I'm like you...my tank is almost a year old and my nitrates don't get above 2(W/ dual feeding) before a bi-weekly water change and my PO4 is around .05. I just added some Acros so i'm trying to adjust.

 

[Brian W]

I'm like you...my tank is almost a year old and my nitrates don't get above 2(W/ dual feeding) before a bi-weekly water change and my PO4 is around .05. I just added some Acros so i'm trying to adjust.

If you remember update me on your acro color in a month or so. Thanks

 

[Salty1962]

4-5ppm

 

[PatW]

I run my nitrates at between .5 and 1.5 ppm.

 

[Waters]

My nitrates sit at about 5 at all times.

 

[Brian W]

thanks everyone.

 

[XNavyDiver]

Mine have been at 8 for months now.

 

[seastar]

5-10, I think running them at 0 is what kicked off the dino-pocalypse in my tank. (And SPS paling for that matter)

 

[dansreef]

My tank runs at 0 for nitrates and .02 for phosphates.... my corals have lost their color...and I am also assuming it is because of the lack of nutrients. I have been dosing nitrates...doing the stump remover... I don't like that... I can get my nitrates to about .75-1...and the color comes back. But they soon drop. I feed my fish a TON and the nutrients just zero out.

I remember when low to no nutrient was the aim... For me... it is trying to get them back up a bit. I am going to add some more fish and keep on feeding heavily.

 

[Brian W]

My tank runs at 0 for nitrates and .02 for phosphates.... my corals have lost their color...and I am also assuming it is because of the lack of nutrients. I have been dosing nitrates...doing the stump remover... I don't like that... I can get my nitrates to about .75-1...and the color comes back. But they soon drop. I feed my fish a TON and the nutrients just zero out.

I remember when low to no nutrient was the aim... For me... it is trying to get them back up a bit. I am going to add some more fish and keep on feeding heavily.

What Nitrate do you dose? Is it clean?

 

[BigJim]

Five seems to be the sweet spot for me. I can keep pretty much any LPS, SPS and zoas happy while not having algae issues.

 

[stylaster]

Mine hovers around 20 ppm and po4 is at .08 No issues and corals grow great especially the sps

 

[TbyZ]

My tank is 1.5 years old and for the last month my Nitrates have been at 0 and my Phosphates were at 0.08 according to my Triton test. I have sps and seems like the color is starting to dull. I have not done a WC in a couple weeks. I feed 1 cube of LRS Reef Frenzy daily which I bumped up to 2 a day now.
I run a fuge with the Kessil H380 and dry skim. What should I try and keep my nitrates at? Im guessing 5-10

Its funny I could not wait to have 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates and no algae...now I'm here and I want Nitrates again.

I don't necessarily believe that a home test kit reading zero for NO3 is a problem. If you have fish, & you're feeding them, you will have traces of NO3 & PO4.

I would suggest that you keep alkalinity at a lower level, as low NO3 & high alk don't compliment each other. Aim for 8dkh, & feed your tank amino acids, & see how things go.

 

[dansreef]

What Nitrate do you dose? Is it clean?

I dose a solution made from the Spectracide Stump Remover which is potassium nitrate. You should be able to search R2R for the details. I dose small quantities... which is what makes me nervous. I don't test for potassium levels.... which compounds things. The Red Sea test kit for K is like a 12 step process...

Anyway... I probably dose about 15 mls for a 225 gal total volume... and then I test next day for nitrates. If I get in the .75-1 range I leave it. I would prefer to go natural and so I feed a ton. I need to up my load in the tank with some more fish....which will help. I also can manage my filtration to run a bit dirtier... just haven't done it.

 

[Brian W]

I don't necessarily believe that a home test kit reading zero for NO3 is a problem. If you have fish, & you're feeding them, you will have traces of NO3 & PO4.

I would suggest that you keep alkalinity at a lower level, as low NO3 & high alk don't compliment each other. Aim for 8dkh, & feed your tank amino acids, & see how things go.

I keep my ALK at 8. I just use red sea test kit on No3 and Triton on phosphate. Im sure 8 is about the lowest I should go.
I have 4 fish total. 2 oscellaris, 1 damsel and 1 sixline wrasse.

 

[ChrisOFL]

I have always preferred my phosphates to be at 0.00, for me this has always helped keep color better in my corals and nuisance algae non-existent while keeping nitrates present. Anytime I have tried to dose phosphates, because my tank naturally stays at zero, it just seems to make hair algae start to grow. I try to keep nitrates close to zero as well but I feed a lot of LRS frenzy for just one tang and two clowns and I also run no filter pads/sock and I don't even run my skimmer every day to keep food particles in the water for corals. I dose bacteria and carbon daily in an effort to keep bacteria flocks in the water for corals as well (I've read this is a natural source of food in zooplankton).

 

[sghera64]

I am going to add some more fish and keep on feeding heavily.

+1

 

[TbyZ]

I keep my ALK at 8. I just use red sea test kit on No3 and Triton on phosphate. Im sure 8 is about the lowest I should go.
I have 4 fish total. 2 oscellaris, 1 damsel and 1 sixline wrasse.

Do you still run both the algae scrubber & the little macro algae fuge? Do you also dose carbon, or use bio pellets?

 

[sghera64]

I don't necessarily believe that a home test kit reading zero for NO3 is a problem. If you have fish, & you're feeding them, you will have traces of NO3 & PO4.

+1

I let my system find its own set point. Currently that is 0ppm NO3 (Red Sea Pro) and 0 PO4 (Hanna ULR). I feed heavy with lots of fish. Alk holds itself at 7.1-7.3. SPS, LPS mixed reef all look happy (color and PE)

I use Ca(OH)2 [ATO] and CO2 reactors. No water changes. I have ulva macro algae refugium.

I gave up controlling numbers and now: I test less often, system is way more stable and I spend more time in front of tank instead of at the lab bench testing and mixing up elixirs and potions.