Where do my nitrates actually need to be?

[laezur]

A month ago I had super high nitrates at 50ppm. I started dosing NoPox and testing every week, I’m now down to 15ppm but since bringing my nitrates down my Anemone is not loving life as much. It doesn’t bubble up at all, it extends out from its rock and just stays rather small.

However, my other corals are doing great at lower nitrate numbers.. but some people say I should raise them.

So where on earth should my nitrates actually be?

 

[mrpontiac80]

A month ago I had super high nitrates at 50ppm. I started dosing NoPox and testing every week, I’m now down to 15ppm but since bringing my nitrates down my Anemone is not loving life as much. It doesn’t bubble up at all, it extends out from its rock and just stays rather small.

However, my other corals are doing great at lower nitrate numbers.. but some people say I should raise them.

So where on earth should my nitrates actually be?

I’m commenting mostly to follow the thread. There are so many opinions it’s tough. All I ever heard was low and now I hear 10-15 ppm. I just received some Nopox myself but am wondering if I should even use it. I have a 1yr old mixed reef. I am fish heavy, but after a water change I am about 20 ppm and by the next water change about 5-7 days later I am around 29 ppm. My acros and other sps are finally starting to grow and do better but I wonder if it is partly due to age of tank. I am eager to see what everyone else says, although I’m sure it will be a variety of numbers.

 

[shakacuz]

i keep mine <10ppm. sometimes i've tested higher, but prefer to keep it under 10.

 

[Gtinnel]

I try to keep mine between 5-10, but I don't know how an anemone would like that nitrate range since I don't have one. I don't know much about anemones but maybe it is reacting more to the change than what level the nitrates actually are.

 

[Pistondog]

Around 10 ppm for nitrate, 0.1 ppm or less for po4.

 

[laezur]

Around 10 ppm for nitrate, 0.1 ppm or less for po4.

I’m thinking my pho’s maybe high then if the Anemone isn’t reacting well?
I’ll have to test again, not done one this week

 

[Freenow54]

Might want to look elsewhere. I am defiantly not a fan of dosing in those cases Nitrates can be controlled in many other ways. Do you have a skimmer?

 

[rtparty]

5-20ppm is great for nitrates. PO4 at .1ppm or less is desirable but I've seen plenty of tanks running well above that with no issues. Corals are very adaptable

 

[mdb_talon]

I am far from an anenome expert, but will say I have several that are thriving at nitrate levels below 5 for the past several months and po4 below .1. However I do spotfeed them quite a bit and I feed my entire tank a lot.... daily.

 

[blaxsun]

I am far from an anenome expert, but will say I have several that are thriving at nitrate levels below 5 for the past several months and po4 below .1. However I do spotfeed them quite a bit and I feed my entire tank a lot.... daily.

Pretty much the same for me; 3-5ppm nitrates and 0.025-0.050ppm phosphates,

 

[Pistondog]

The nem maybe adjusting to the changing tank chemistry. 50 to 15 ppm in month.

 

[jda]

Anything over .1 residual is fine. The prize is nitrogen in ammonia/ammonium from your fish waste. You were likely depriving your 'nem and whatever corals you have of some of this while dosing the organic carbon since the waterborne (and surface) bacteria are active consumers of ammoni[a,um] too. Most "corals" cannot get nitrogen from nitrate efficiently and some cannot use it at all - I have only seen snippets and anecdotes about anemones and it appears that they cannot use nitrate directly, but I have not seen any really solid literature on it. In any case, fish waste is what you are after for the nem... and all corals for that matter.

Available > residual.

I have a bunch of Colorado Sunbursts in a tank with .1 nitrate and 3 ppb of phosphate. I feed a lot, so the fish produce tons of waste for them. They grow fast and heal quickly after the get cut or split.

 

[laezur]

Anything over .1 residual is fine. The prize is nitrogen in ammonia/ammonium from your fish waste. You were likely depriving your 'nem and whatever corals you have of some of this while dosing the organic carbon since the waterborne (and surface) bacteria are active consumers of ammoni[a,um] too. Most "corals" cannot get nitrogen from nitrate efficiently and some cannot use it at all - I have only seen snippets and anecdotes about anemones and it appears that they cannot use nitrate directly, but I have not seen any really solid literature on it. In any case, fish waste is what you are after for the nem... and all corals for that matter.

Available > residual.

I have a bunch of Colorado Sunbursts in a tank with .1 nitrate and 3 ppb of phosphate. I feed a lot, so the fish produce tons of waste for them. They grow fast and heal quickly after the get cut or split.

So if I’m reading this correctly, since I have a skimmer I should stop the dosing of NoPox for a while and let the nitrates become available for the Anemone to actually use??

 

[laezur]

Might want to look elsewhere. I am defiantly not a fan of dosing in those cases Nitrates can be controlled in many other ways. Do you have a skimmer?

I do have a skimmer, yeah

 

[jda]

That is the opposite of what I am saying. I am saying that your nem is not likely to be able to get nitrogen from nitrate... and that the dosing of the organic carbon likely has the additional waterborne and surface bacteria that you created also consume a higher amount of ammonia/ammonium and your nem and the corals are missing out on some of it.

Cutting back on the nopox would allow more ammonia/ammonium to get to your nem and corals. Your nitrate will start to climb. Maybe dosing less nopox and see if stuff starts to look better?

 

[laezur]

That is the opposite of what I am saying. I am saying that your nem is not likely to be able to get nitrogen from nitrate... and that the dosing of the organic carbon likely has the additional waterborne and surface bacteria that you created also consume a higher amount of ammonia/ammonium and your nem and the corals are missing out on some of it.

Cutting back on the nopox would allow more ammonia/ammonium to get to your nem and corals. Your nitrate will start to climb. Maybe dosing less nopox and see if stuff starts to look better?

I must be being stupid because I’ve read both of your comments and still feel like we are in agreement, maybe I worded my message wrong?

can you dm me with further info?