Red Sea Marine Care Program Nitrate question

[DaveRaz]

I searched for the answer to this but having difficulty....

I understand that Acceptable range of nitrate is <.02

The text kit is 0 to 50. I get a reading of 5 on the color card. There is obviously a conversion I am missing.

Please advise.

 

[dartier]

I think you may be confusing Nitrate with Phosphate. The Red Sea Reef Care program uses 0.02 as the recommended low end of the target range for Phosphate.

Depending on if you are trying to operate in Accelerated Growth mode or Coral colors mode, the target for Nitrate is 1-2 ppm for the former and 0.25ppm for the later.

If you are using a different test than RS (E.g. like Salifert), you will need to use the low range to be able to test for the ranges that RS is suggesting.

Dennis

 

[bertoni]

5 ppm is within the range of common measurements for nitrate in our tanks. That level is safe for all fish and soft corals, although stony corals might have some issues. Personally, though, I suspect everything will be fine at that level, although the coloration <b>might</b> be a bit browner than it would be with a lower nitrate level.