ok guys, people with high trates keeping sps succesfully? im a skeptic myself...

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Pallobi

CTARS, BRS & OSRAS Member
I have been spending some time on another board site and have run into people claiming that sps keepers with nitrate levels over 20 and as high as 180 ppm are keeping sps... to be honest, i dont think anything over a couple ppm are acceptable and taht i am being fed nonsense... as well as being told they dont know how anyone could acheive an ULNS... i feel there is no way any of these claims can be true... anyone with any other thoughts??? i have been conversing with them about this to the point where i am jus getting frustrated with it all... i mean, a few trates', sure... but 20, let alone 100+ or even 180 ppm and i jus feel like they are lying to me and themselves... i guess i jus feel like RC is the authority amongst reefing message boards, and i thought i would bring the debate here... any input and opinion, whether alike or different from mine is completely acceptable and will be handled on my end with attention and courtesy...
 
I have a friend that hardly knows anything about SPS corals. His tank nitrates are about 20ppm constantly and he uses a 1w LED setup. His SPS corals are some of the healthiest and most colorful corals I have ever seen. Im actually very jealous lol. It is 100% possible to have beautiful SPS in a system with 20ppm nitrates.
 
LifeAquatic said:
I have a friend that hardly knows anything about SPS corals. His tank nitrates are about 20ppm constantly and he uses a 1w LED setup. His SPS corals are some of the healthiest and most colorful corals I have ever seen. Im actually very jealous lol. It is 100% possible to have beautiful SPS in a system with 20ppm nitrates.
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ok, now that sounds like a possibility, but can you link a pic? with some more test results?

this does not explain the ones telling me 80 to 180 ppm and they are having all this "success" and telling me i am wrong for being skeptical... i have still yet to get a pm or link from any of them regarding proof... the only thing i got so far is a softie with few sps pics, and a mention of a user who has a great tank but doesnt even test... if he isnt testing it, then i dont feel they can rightfully say he has high trates'...
 
I agree with you. A few ppm...maybe even up to 10, but 20 even seems high to me. If someone has 20 ppm nitrates I would venture to say it is next to impossible to have a phosphate level low enough to support SPS without consequences.

Conversely, even when I started out in the hobby with an overstocked FOWLR my nitrates never got above 20. People should be ashamed of themselves for even letting us know that they keep livestock in triple digit nitrate levels. If this were your dog it would have been taken away by Animal Control.
 
In my 125 I run no cheato or macro algaes and usually hang around 5-10ppm of nitrAtes. It has gone to 20ppm with no ill effects. That tank does very well with SPS corals when I do not have alk issues :headwalls: that is. Now in my 40br that I set up trying to keep pests and other things out by using all brand new things and dry sand and Marco rock I can not keep SPS at all. That tank is TOO pristen it seems. I have only 2 small fish in there and feed only what they need so the tank never really gets anything. I did not seed this tank with any sand from my 125 but I have now added a piece of rock from the 125. I have rics and zoa and paly's that are doing well but SPS will receed and die.

Because of this I am now trying something different to see if I can get the 40br to be able to grow SPS as I want to take down my 125 for now but I have a few SPS that I do not want to get rid of and really need to get the 40br to be able to grow SPS corals. So the something different is that I am using the old water coming out of the 125 as part of my new water for the 40br. For this I made 25g of new water. 15g for the 125, 5g for the 40br, and 5g for my 20g qt. The 15g of old water from the 125 was split into 10g for the 40br and 5g for the qt. I am planning on repeating this weakly for the next month and then I will try the 40br out on SPS again.

The weirdest thing to me is that common beliefs are that z & p's like dirtier water then SPS yet my tanks are dirty water = no zoas but yes paly's and clean water = no SPS but yes on z's & p's. Go figure.
 
20ppm I think is the max for healthy SPS.....some may be able to go a bit higher but for overall health...less than 20ppm. I still say lower the better though.
 
I'm not convinced that high nitrates cause issues with SPS. I recently had a nutrient spike in my system (NO3 30ppm / PO4 .12) and didnt notice any difference with my SPS. It took me a good month or so to bring my levels back down and it didnt seem to phase my SPS at all. It has been proven however how phosphate affects corals and their growth/health.

I do however run what most SPS keepers consider a high nutrient enviroment. I try to maintain my PO4 around .02-.04 and NO3 between 2-5.
 
great info and opinions guys... high or low...

this is what i am not getting on the other site... all i am getting is "i have a friend with 80ppm and they are doing great" etc etc etc... but no evidence to back it up...

whether its good or bad, i think i would have a heart attack if my trates even hit 5, as i work so hard to keep them at 0... Lol... but to each their own, im wasnt judging anyone on the other site, jus asking for more info and evidence... i mean, who doesnt love a good discussion about reefing? its why we are all here... ;)
 
xavier-seahorse said:
When I go to Germany, the best korallenfarm (http://www.korallenfarm.de/) want to have detectable levels of nitrate. He add nitrate potassium to his tank to have 2-5 ppm. The color of the SPS are wonderfull. He don't like zeovit or ULNS tank.

regards,

xavier
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the 2 to 5 makes alot of sense to me... but 20 and 30 ppm? well i guess i am still learning... mine have always been at 0, and i really dont feel i am lacking color whatsoever, but thats jus my system, and again, i have alot to learn still...
 
My nitrates hang around 20. My phosphates are always 0. My Alk never rises higher than 6-7. My SPS are doing great and I have very steady/colorful growth.

I can't explain it, but I'm going with the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' montra!
 
One of the more recent TOTM - the reefer who is a big angelfish enthusiast with multiple tanks plumbed together (coppolino?) - says he maintains 20ppm of No3 in his system. There must be other variables at play that determine whether higher No3 levels have a deleterious effect on sps.
 
djkms said:
I'm not convinced that high nitrates cause issues with SPS. I recently had a nutrient spike in my system (NO3 30ppm / PO4 .12) and didnt notice any difference with my SPS. It took me a good month or so to bring my levels back down and it didnt seem to phase my SPS at all.
Click to expand...

i am not necessarily convinced either as i have no proof from my own system experience to back that up, however i wouldnt wana find out as that would mean i found out the hard way... i pretty much learned all i know from here on RC and particularly this sps forum... and i think we can all agree that the consensus and vast majority here say lower is best... and the lowest is the goal... but again, that may not necessarily mean all feel that way
 
Peale said:
I can't explain it, but I'm going with the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' montra!
Click to expand...

and that is a very good montra to follow :thumbsup:

but again guys, notice no one here is saying anything over 20... elsewhere i have people telling me 100+ and its fine, but its always "someone else's tank"... and to me, that proves nothing...

again guys, love all the input... learning a thing or two myself today
 
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Pallobi said:
ok, now that sounds like a possibility, but can you link a pic? with some more test results?

this does not explain the ones telling me 80 to 180 ppm and they are having all this "success" and telling me i am wrong for being skeptical... i have still yet to get a pm or link from any of them regarding proof... the only thing i got so far is a softie with few sps pics, and a mention of a user who has a great tank but doesnt even test... if he isnt testing it, then i dont feel they can rightfully say he has high trates'...
Click to expand...

Sure I can post some pics! Let me email my friend for some recent shots. Ive always been taught that SPS dont do well in sytems with high nitrates. After seeing the success of my frineds SPS coral in a high nitrate system I began to wonder if the low nitrate or ULNS are not needed for good results. Ive also seen lots of bad press regarding LEDS. My friend uses one of the first 1wt LED systems shipped from China and the reults are amazing! This system constantly runs at 20 ppm nitrate and .03-.04 phosphate. Im not sure how well the sytem would do running nitrate in the 30-150ppm range.
 
Here are some pics from my friends system. 20ppm nitrate and .03-.04 phosphate. Corals go in brown and come out amazing! Im still not sure how he does it and niether is he!

<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/?action=view&current=CORAL1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/CORAL1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/?action=view&current=CORAL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/CORAL5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/?action=view&current=CORAL4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/CORAL4.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/?action=view&current=CORAL3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/CORAL3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/?action=view&current=CORAL2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt163/jason4funding/CORAL2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
those are some solid colors, thanks for the photos to add to the debate, thats what i am talking about lol :)

whats interesting is mine maintain at 0, and those are the types of colors i get... bold and distinguished... obviously there are many more factors involved than jus trates'...

as always, more input from various sources are always better than jus a few ;)
 
NO3 in natural seawater ranges from .6 ppm to 30 ppm depending on location and depths.
source: reefkeeping magazine

who are we to argue with mother nature.
 
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