My tank is very new, has just cycled about two weeks and have first introduced a pair of clownfish on a 60 gal DT about a week ago. I have also started using chaeto in the sump and turn on the skimmer at the same time I introduced the fish. I am feeding two times per day and try not to overfeed, maybe 1-2 pinch of small pellets. I am also running my XR15 at 10% of intensity as I don't have corals yet.
I have run 3 different tests of Nitrates and the readings are: Salifert (0.25ppm from what I can see in the color scale), Seachem is even lower at maybe something around 0.10ppm and then I made my first test with Hanna Low Range and it gave me a read of 0.00ppm. So I can deduct that yes, at this point my system is running very low on Nitrates.
So questions are:
1. Is that normal because I am not introducing too much nutrients so far and chaeto is consuming all nutrients as they are no other compettitors?
2. Is it ok to introduce corals with a 0.00-0.25ppm Nitrate level or should I start raising this at something around 5ppm? Not sure if overfeeding a bit and increasing the light intensity should help.
3. Will my chaeto will thrive under those conditions?
I have run 3 different tests of Nitrates and the readings are: Salifert (0.25ppm from what I can see in the color scale), Seachem is even lower at maybe something around 0.10ppm and then I made my first test with Hanna Low Range and it gave me a read of 0.00ppm. So I can deduct that yes, at this point my system is running very low on Nitrates.
So questions are:
1. Is that normal because I am not introducing too much nutrients so far and chaeto is consuming all nutrients as they are no other compettitors?
2. Is it ok to introduce corals with a 0.00-0.25ppm Nitrate level or should I start raising this at something around 5ppm? Not sure if overfeeding a bit and increasing the light intensity should help.
3. Will my chaeto will thrive under those conditions?
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