crazy high nitrates

[jerf]

I have a buddy who's having a real issue with his nitrates. He's used two different test kit types; salifert and aquarium pharmaceuticals and both of them are giving him in the 50ppm range. Crazy, right? I figured all of his inverts would be dead and his fish suffering.

I've been successfully keeping reef tanks for about 5 years. While I've never paid too much attention to the numbers, figuring if things look alright, then I don't need to worry, but 50ppm nitrates are insane.

So, here's his set up:
75 gallon tank w/35 gallon sump set up a year ago April.
ASM G3 w/meshwheel mod. Pulling out a full cup ever 2-3 days (this seems like a lot to me).
Sump is divided in thirds with one third 'fuge w/DSB & chaeto
Uses RO/DI water for the past 7 months. Initially set up with tap water.
about 35x/hr of turn over in his tank

fish: yellow tang, flame angel, convict blenny, pink skunk clownfish, algae blenny, 6line wrasse, 2 green chromis

~100lbs of live rock

Feed NLS pellets & omega one flakes. Ocasionally some cyclopeeze & blender mush. He does not over feed.

A small problem with cyano, but it seems to be clearing up.

Water changes are 5 gallons weekly.

He's trying a RDSB in a bucket as his next attempt to clean things up.

So, a typical set up, right? Except for the lack of RO/DI at the start, there are no major problems that I can see.

So, his corals seem to be doing pretty well. His SPS are colouring up, his LPS are extending fully. No problems with his fish. So, what's going on? What's he overlooking?

Is his tank defying biology?

 

[RichConley]

Nitrates are underrated.

 

[wikusg]

Check the salt, it might be your source of nitrates. 50ppm is not what the "experts" recommend but fish and corals will survive and might even grow.

He might want to put a light on the sump and some cheato in there to get rid of the excess nitrates. Will take about 3 months before he will see any real effects, but it is worth the effort.

Wikus

 

[jerf]

Thanks & good idea. I'll have him check the salt.

I agree, the nitrate level isn't the end of the world, but it's certainly not ideal.

Oh, and he's had chaeto growing in his 'fuge for a few months now.

 

[wikusg]

Well all I can add to my post is patience. It took me 6months to come down from 90ppm nitrates to unmeasurable with a Sera and Tropic Marin test kit.

Nothing good in this hobby happens fast. I'd also advise that he does not try and quickfix the nitrates, as it will do more harm than good.

Good luck

Wikus

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10452376#post10452376 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wikusg
Check the salt, it might be your source of nitrates. 50ppm is not what the "experts" recommend but fish and corals will survive and might even grow.

What experts?


Nitrate is coral food. It doesn't harm corals at all. Phosphate harms corals.

The problem is, tanks with high nitrate tend to have high phosphate. If his doesn't, great.


There are a LOT of sps keepers adding nitrate to their tanks to get better colors and growth at this point. There are a lot of TOTM type tanks running 50+ nitrate.


honestly, nitrate is about the least relevant parameter in this hobby. Theres absolutely no reason to measure it.



If his tank looks great, tell him not to worry about it.

 

[KEstep]

You should be on Jeopardy Rich.

 

[Cougarman]

I agree nitrates are not as toxic as most believe. But high nitrates is usually a sign of poor water quality(not always). So while high levels of nitrates may not be overly harmful themselves, there's usually high levels of other problematic compounds, which is why we test for nitrates.

 

[RichConley]

Exactly cougerman,


buts its not always the case. There ARE some tanks out there that just have high nitrate. If this guy's reef tank looks great, thats most likely the case.

 

[TIMMYE]

The only time I worry about Nitrates is when my phosphates start reading. other than that I not concerend with them at all. Growth and color are still good with nitrates at 20+ at times.

 

[mhltcob]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10458873#post10458873 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
What experts?


Nitrate is coral food. It doesn't harm corals at all. Phosphate harms corals.

The problem is, tanks with high nitrate tend to have high phosphate. If his doesn't, great.


There are a LOT of sps keepers adding nitrate to their tanks to get better colors and growth at this point. There are a lot of TOTM type tanks running 50+ nitrate.


honestly, nitrate is about the least relevant parameter in this hobby. Theres absolutely no reason to measure it.



If his tank looks great, tell him not to worry about it.

Corals typically "feed" off of POM/plankton, not dissolved nutrients such as nitrate. They much prefer nitrogen via particulates, hence why they have polyps devoted to prey capture. Sure increased nitrate can cause an increase in zooxanthellae numbers in corals in cases where nitrogen is limiting. This actually leads to decreased skeletogenesis in many hermatypic corals, as it deprives them of inorganic carbon.

Nitrate has also been shown to block iodine uptake in certain fishes (as far as I know only elasmobranchs, but very little work has gone into this) which can also be of concern to us as fish keepers.

Considering this, I would consider nitrate concentration very relevant to ones success as a reef aquarist.

Nitrate increases zooxanthellae population density and reduces skeletogenesis in corals
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r11243517w788537/

Response of a scleractinian coral, Stylophora pistillata, to iron and nitrate enrichment
http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=3d947d776918bf866238cd69b18b7f25