What should my nitrates be at before and after I add fish?

[greetl01]

My tank has cycled and I should be adding fish in the next few weeks. I did a water change, and they are at about 5ppm right now. I've been reading online, and it said 10-40 is safe range. That seemed high to me so I just want to cross reference. Thanks for any help u can give

 

[Sam816]

only thing u should be worried about is ammonia. has to be zero. 10-40 ppm of nitrates is a safe range for most fish.
5 ppm is very good to begin with. what test kit do you use? API has a bad reputation. get a different one along with the fish.

 

[landlubber]

2-5ppm is the general goal for a reef tank regardless of fish or corals.

 

[greetl01]

only thing u should be worried about is ammonia. has to be zero. 10-40 ppm of nitrates is a safe range for most fish.
5 ppm is very good to begin with. what test kit do you use? API has a bad reputation. get a different one along with the fish.

API smh. its crazy. I didn't see one thing about the tests being trash on the forum but as soon as I bought TWO of them, and my tests came out suspect, then that's all I came across on here. going to get a hanna checker soon but initial set up broke me for a while.

 

[greetl01]

2-5ppm is the general goal for a reef tank regardless of fish or corals.

thanks. I figured I ought to get it down to zero. With the tank being so new it will give me a little leeway.

 

[Sam816]

API smh. its crazy. I didn't see one thing about the tests being trash on the forum but as soon as I bought TWO of them, and my tests came out suspect, then that's all I came across on here. going to get a hanna checker soon but initial set up broke me for a while.

i might be wrong but hanna nitrate checker is ULR for up to 5 ppm only. red sea's pro test kit is deemed to be best as its really easy to read.

 

[landlubber]

thanks. I figured I ought to get it down to zero. With the tank being so new it will give me a little leeway.

depleting nutrients down to zero may seem like a good idea but it arguably causes worse problems. starving, coral and microfauna and inviting problematic algae like dinoflagellates.
keep your nutrients low but still present and you'll avoid problems and have a solid environment for your animals.

 

[greetl01]

depleting nutrients down to zero may seem like a good idea but it arguably causes worse problems. starving, coral and microfauna and inviting problematic algae like dinoflagellates.
keep your nutrients low but still present and you'll avoid problems and have a solid environment for your animals.

makes sense. thanks