Can high NO3 kills SPS?

[icliao]

One of my friend's SPS recently faced some die offs.

His water parameter are good except his Nitrate went up to 30 ppm. Everything else seemed pretty standard.

Can high NO3 (20-30ppm) kills SPS?

 

[bnlimit10]

YES

 

[menard]

30 ppm. wow! they will kick the bucket.

 

[clkwrk]

no not in the short term but months maybe IME I was @ 50 for 3 weeks or so and I lost no sps infact I had some color up very nicely .

But I would bring it down . Mine is at 10 and my corals continue to color even newly bought pieces.

 

[Sk8r]

I agree. I'd panic if I saw that reading and start doing water changes and hunting for forgotten filter media.

 

[icliao]

Well, not my tank.
He has changed some water and has installed a sulfur reactor.
His NO3 is now 15 ppm.
My NO3 is around 0.5 ppm and I have no explain to him what caused the die offs.

 

[onehundred20]

no3 shouldnt cause a die off like that unless its extremely high for a long time, they wont last very long or be very happy at 30 though

 

[icliao]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7656256#post7656256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by onehundred20
no3 shouldnt cause a die off like that unless its extremely high for a long time, they wont last very long or be very happy at 30 though

What he experienced was random die off of several acorpora colony.
Most of his SPS including montipora, all LPS, and soft corals are fine.

 

[A.G]

Nitrate alone won't kill anything especially at such levels. But high nitrate are associated with other nutrients that you can't test for ( like some phosphate forms) that will inhabit classification and kill corals. I would do a water change just to be safe.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7656946#post7656946 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by A.G
Nitrate alone won't kill anything especially at such levels. But high nitrate are associated with other nutrients that you can't test for ( like some phosphate forms) that will inhabit classification and kill corals. I would do a water change just to be safe.

Exactly.
The nitrate isnt going to bother anything. The associated phosphate though, will wreak havok on your corals.

 

[icliao]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7656946#post7656946 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by A.G
Nitrate alone won't kill anything especially at such levels. But high nitrate are associated with other nutrients that you can't test for ( like some phosphate forms) that will inhabit classification and kill corals. I would do a water change just to be safe.

Well, he recently used 1liter of RowaPhos before the dye off starts, could that be a possibility?

 

[clkwrk]

Yes

reduction in po4 too quickly can have its effects and so could synthetic iron used for rowa or other ironbase removers. I also think there have been reports of others with the same problem when everyone was trying it out all the sudden.

Do a search for rowa+problems

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7657924#post7657924 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
Exactly.
The nitrate isnt going to bother anything. The associated phosphate though, will wreak havok on your corals.

I have to agree. Unfortunately, at the store where I am employed, the reef tank there has nitrate levels well in excess of 100ppm. There is no detectable phosphate using conventional means (though I know it is elevated) and growth is so-so. It contains some sps, including Montipora sp., used to contain Acropora sp. (before it was removed), various soft corals, older H. crispa anemone, various larger polyped corals. Despite its looking plain dirty, the tank does surprisingly well, even with nitrate ion levels reaching as high as they are.

 

[chadfarmer]

with sps do everything slow or you will start to kill them fast

 

[Eric Boerner]

The NO3 will cause a reaction that will cause necrosis & disease from algae & bacteria. In most enclosed systems that much nitrate will cause major bacteria and algae blooms. With certain algae blooms, you can kiss most SPS godbye. Im surprised he doesn't have a major hair algae problem.

Water changes, macro-algae, carbon, should clean it up. Then find out why it got that high in the first place. Is he feeding 500 fish daily?

 

[icliao]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7662567#post7662567 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Eric Boerner
The NO3 will cause a reaction that will cause necrosis & disease from algae & bacteria. In most enclosed systems that much nitrate will cause major bacteria and algae blooms. With certain algae blooms, you can kiss most SPS godbye. Im surprised he doesn't have a major hair algae problem.

Water changes, macro-algae, carbon, should clean it up. Then find out why it got that high in the first place. Is he feeding 500 fish daily?

The interesting part is in both case no sign of any hair algae once or ever, not even significant diatom growth.

 

[A.G]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7662165#post7662165 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by icliao
Well, he recently used 1liter of RowaPhos before the dye off starts, could that be a possibility?

These are Iron based material. Iron is toxic to Inverts and corals in high doses. Thats why we've been seeing and hearing lots of reports on sps stn/rtn with people who started using iron based products. When its needed to use such products go SLOWLY. 1 Litre does seem alot for a first time. I woud recommend your friend to stop using rowphos for a while and do a big water change and see how things will go. Try to eliminate one problem at a time until you get to the source.

 

[icliao]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7662813#post7662813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by A.G
These are Iron based material. Iron is toxic to Inverts and corals in high doses. Thats why we've been seeing and hearing lots of reports on sps stn/rtn with people who started using iron based products. When its needed to use such products go SLOWLY. 1 Litre does seem alot for a first time. I woud recommend your friend to stop using rowphos for a while and do a big water change and see how things will go. Try to eliminate one problem at a time until you get to the source.

I know it is a mistake to use so much RowaPhos at the same time, however, I have not faced any problem adding 1 liter to my 200GL and 2 liters to my 500GL.

Perhaps, just got lucky?

 

[A.G]

I would not call it luck. There other factors involved here. Some corals will tolorate it others won't. Also, he maybe using a diffrent salt mix that is already higher in Iron than NSW or he could be supplemnitng with other liquids that contain Iron.

Still, I think a BIG water change would be nice.

HTH

A.G