tntechworker
New member
how severe is a nitrate level of 40 ppm? severe enough to kill a fish?
nitrate?
- Thread starter tntechworker
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tntechworker
New member
id like input on this from as many people as possible even if you agree with what has already been said.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
40 ppm is pretty high and should be addressed with water changes.
tntechworker
New member
on a scale of 1-10 one being not a big deal and 10 being the tank is in bad shape how would you rank it?
Pandora
Premium Member
tnt, it depends at which stage your tank is in (such as how long you've set it up), what else is in it, and what your other parameters are, especially ammonia & nitrite. For example, in a FOWLR, that's not great and will probably cause algae problems, but I wouldn't freak out about it. If you are setting up an SPS tank and ready to throw in valuable SPS, clams and an anemone, I would say you are very bad off.
Amphiprion
Premium Member
It will not be enough to kill a fish (do you have a fish only tank?). Only the most sensitive fish will be stressed or killed by levels above 50 (even 100), such as some butterfly fish. Some corals are more or less tolerant at these levels, some are almost completely intolerant. In any case, less is always better and zero is preferable to any other level. But I sincerlely doubt that these levels will kill a fish--so I rate it a 4 or 5--moderate alarm, simply put that it should be lower.
. 
piranhaking
New member
well the tank does have an anemone and some clams and snails
Holmie_D_Klown
Premium Member
2 - if fish only
8 - if corals/anemone
8 - if corals/anemone
piranhaking
New member
i meant crabs, not clams i just noticed that oops.....
dastratt
New member
Treat it not as an immdiate alarm, but as a challenge with the tank that needs to be dealt with given the presence of the anemone in particular. You need to establish the root cause (source) of the nitrates. The maturity of the tank is a big variable here.
A series of large water changes are a straightforward way to address the nitrate levels. Or pursue another method of nitrate reduction.
Heres a good link with more information.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm
How long has the tank been set up?
The best way for us to help you is for you to give us more information about your set up and other water parameters.
A series of large water changes are a straightforward way to address the nitrate levels. Or pursue another method of nitrate reduction.
Heres a good link with more information.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm
How long has the tank been set up?
The best way for us to help you is for you to give us more information about your set up and other water parameters.
piranhaking
New member
im not really sure on set up time, because i wasnt involved in the set up. Atleast since school started this year, so august atleast and some time longer than that. because it had been set up for atleast a little while at that point. The tank was set up with tap water(i wasnt around then). It apparently hasnt had a water change in 6 weeks till today when i did a 5 gallon change on it. Its a 75 gallon. I was going to do more but i didnt have time to mix any more water. I would asssume the causes are tap water, lack of dsb/plenum, an ugf with crushed coral (detritus trap which i intend to fix with doing away with the ugf and switching to sugar sand), and very little live rock (some base rock besides that but still not enough and i dont think it has had time to seed yet). I am on the way to getting this tank ready for some sps as soon as i can get the issues adressed.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Not sure what your future plans are other than you mention SPS. I love the functionality and looks of a DSB, but I think you may want to go barebottom with SPS. I have some SPS and really wish I could up the flow in my tank, but the sand prevents it. When i finally get my large tank for SPS it will be BB, but with a remote DSB.
