Will nitrate at 0 cause birdsnest to die?

[crappie]

I have several corals in my 40 breeder and after moving a couple corals I have a birds nest that is struggling. Everything else is doing fine. My parameters all seem fine except my nitrates are stuck at 0 and have been forever. If I feed super heavy I can get them to register but are still under 1 ppm using the Hanna nitrate HR checker. I have also used the api test kit and it’s always bright yellow meaning 0 ppm.
I have 2 mp10s at 100% flow using lagoon and reef crest modes, for a skimmer I use the reef octo 1000 hob, I have a tidal stuffed with pinkyfilters and change every week with 5 gallons of water, ati 6 bulb t5’s on 12 hrs/day. I dose alk, cal, mg and have just bought some nitrate and plan to start adding that because I think the nitrates need to rise.
The parameters I test are as follows
Alk 9.3
Phos .03
Nitrate 0
Ca 400
Mg 1400

Could the low nitrates be the cause of the bridsnest dying, am I doing too many water changes, should I stop using the pinkyfilters or skimmer, am I missing something?

 

[Spare time]

Yes it can unless you are feeding heavily. It's good to have at least a few ppm nitrate as it buffers corals from starving.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree it could be. I’d dose N or feed more.

 

[Lavey29]

Not just the bird but all corals in your tank are starving to death. They decline from the inside out so could take weeks or few months to show the decline.

 

[CHSUB]

Corals die for many different reasons, imo, the absolute last and most improbable reason would be a diagnosis of low no3 based on a hobby test kit.

 

[Lavey29]

Corals die for many different reasons, imo, the absolute last and most improbable reason would be a diagnosis of low no3 based on a hobby test kit.

Correct they do die for various reasons but bottomed out nutrients is a primary reason.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I've lost birds nest corals to 0 Nitrate - it was an issue that i could only resolve by dosing NeoNitrate - worked well. Now that the tank is back into positive range - i don't have dose much any more. One thing that i noticed is that my refugium when full of chaeto was the main culprit of sucking too much nitrate from the tank and getting things out of balance - even with heavy feeding.

 

[Dburr1014]

I'm going to disagree with a cavheat, I personally have zero nitrate, my BN is not dying.
Of coarse I feed heavy, I have quite a few fish that eat 4x a day. I feed the fish, they feed the coral. It is nice to see a >zero nitrate number but it's not 100% necessary as long as it's getting it's daily food in some way.


Edit; looking at the photos, how is your flow? The BN tend to stop flow internally as they grow. Low flow is a sure killer as it grows.

 

[CHSUB]

Correct they do die for various reasons but bottomed out nutrients is a primary reason.

Imo, bottoming out nutrients have never existed in the hobby, it’s a new thing invented by marketing to sell unseasoned and inexperienced hobbyists. People follow the advice of the “guy” with dieing corals and hobby test kits that read 0, then add inorganic no3 and a few corals don’t die and he thinks he solved something.

 

[Lavey29]

Imo, bottoming out nutrients have never existed in the hobby, it’s a new thing invented by marketing to sell unseasoned and inexperienced hobbyists. People follow the advice of the “guy” with dieing corals and hobby test kits that read 0, then add inorganic no3 and a few corals don’t die and he thinks he solved something.

Guess we all have our own opinions and approaches here but the ULNS was a fad some years back and has long been discarded for the most part. Can you run 0 and offset that with supplements? Some do with success but most fail.

 

[Northern Flicker]

Mine bleached at the tips like yours. I’ve started dosing calcium nitrate to maintain nitrates (went from 0 to 12). I think I see improvement but I need more time to be sure.

 

[Northern Flicker]

Imo, bottoming out nutrients have never existed in the hobby, it’s a new thing invented by marketing to sell unseasoned and inexperienced hobbyists. People follow the advice of the “guy” with dieing corals and hobby test kits that read 0, then add inorganic no3 and a few corals don’t die and he thinks he solved something.

I don’t really understand - are you saying you don’t think nitrogen (ammonia or nitrate, both useable) imbalances occur and cause problems?

 

[crappie]

I'm going to disagree with a cavheat, I personally have zero nitrate, my BN is not dying.
Of coarse I feed heavy, I have quite a few fish that eat 4x a day. I feed the fish, they feed the coral. It is nice to see a >zero nitrate number but it's not 100% necessary as long as it's getting it's daily food in some way.


Edit; looking at the photos, how is your flow? The BN tend to stop flow internally as they grow. Low flow is a sure killer as it grows.

I think Flow is ok. I have two MP 10’s on either side of the tank and they are set to 100%. In reef crest mode most of the time

 

[CHSUB]

I don’t really understand - are you saying you don’t think nitrogen (ammonia or nitrate, both useable) imbalances occur and cause problems?

The OP ask if 0 no3 on a hobby test kit would cause a coral to die and imo,ime 99.5% of all closed system aquariums the answer is no. Is he testing using a laboratory that tests for organic N, nh3, nh4, no2, and no3? No, He is testing for no3, the last step in the biological cycle. His coral’s zooxanthellae could be getting its nutrients in many different ways other than no3. Furthermore, the coral itself can capture organic N and not rely on zooxanthellae to survive. Most of my tanks over 40 years seldom had detectable no3 and corals thrived. Here is a picture of a Stylophora capturing and consuming a mysin shrimp, this tank has undetected no3 and po4. The OP tank looks far from sterile, as I see some healthy corals and algae.

 

[Lavey29]

The OP ask if 0 no3 on a hobby test kit would cause a coral to die and imo,ime 99.5% of all closed system aquariums the answer is no. Is he testing using a laboratory that tests for organic N, nh3, nh4, no2, and no3? No, He is testing for no3, the last step in the biological cycle. His coral’s zooxanthellae could be getting its nutrients in many different ways other than no3. Furthermore, the coral itself can capture organic N and not rely on zooxanthellae to survive. Most of my tanks over 40 years seldom had detectable no3 and corals thrived. Here is a picture of a Stylophora capturing and consuming a mysin shrimp, this tank has undetected no3 and po4. The OP tank looks far from sterile, as I see some healthy corals and algae.

And nitrates at 20 with phosphate. .4.

 

[CHSUB]

Guess we all have our own opinions and approaches here but the ULNS was a fad some years back and has long been discarded for the most part. Can you run 0 and offset that with supplements? Some do with success but most fail.

People fail in this hobby for many different reasons, I would guess “most” failures come from elevated nutrients and hobbyists getting overwhelmed with problem algae. If a hobbyist tries and gives up on an ULNS using zeolites it’s because of something other than corals not thriving.

 

[CHSUB]

And nitrates at 20 with phosphate. .4.

Wait?? When did I say corals couldn’t grow in elevated nutrients….oh I didn’t!

 

[Lavey29]

People fail in this hobby for many different reasons, I would guess “most” failures come from elevated nutrients and hobbyists getting overwhelmed with problem algae. If a hobbyist tries and gives up on an ULNS using zeolites it’s because of something other than corals not thriving.

Strange then that ULNS fad has faded out years ago then huh

 

[Lavey29]

Wait?? When did I say corals couldn’t grow in elevated nutrients….oh I didn’t!

So you want your cake and eat it to huh....ULNS is out. Fat is in.

 

[Spare time]

The OP ask if 0 no3 on a hobby test kit would cause a coral to die and imo,ime 99.5% of all closed system aquariums the answer is no. Is he testing using a laboratory that tests for organic N, nh3, nh4, no2, and no3? No, He is testing for no3, the last step in the biological cycle. His coral’s zooxanthellae could be getting its nutrients in many different ways other than no3. Furthermore, the coral itself can capture organic N and not rely on zooxanthellae to survive. Most of my tanks over 40 years seldom had detectable no3 and corals thrived. Here is a picture of a Stylophora capturing and consuming a mysin shrimp, this tank has undetected no3 and po4. The OP tank looks far from sterile, as I see some healthy corals and algae.

Its either you feed a ton daily or you have some nitrate and phosphate present on a test kit. Otherwise yes, the corals starve.