Leather Coral Nitrates?

[Tinnerito]

Hello! My first leather coral has officially died, and has melted away. :( However I would like to use this opportunity for improvement. I've read that leather corals need a lot of nitrate, and at the time I was under the impression that the amount of nitrate ideal for a typical reef aquarium would be safe for leather corals, however I was wrong, and they need a lot more. I scoured the internet but couldn't find the info for such a simple question, hence I came here. What should my nitrate be for leather corals? It currently is about 0.25, and I am still working to raise those numbers. Thanks in advance!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would not say they need 'a lot' of nitrate. Maybe you can list all your parameters, that will give us more info. How old is your tank? How long did it take to melt away?

What kind of light do you have and what intensity? I would take a look at the lights before trying pinpoint the solution on a specific nitrate level.

Is there any flow in the tank? Corals can melt away in non-moving water.

Basically need more info to offer any suggestion

 

[exnisstech]

I don't know what the recommended number is but I've had mine for several years and nitrates have been 10-25 durring that time. My PO4 is also what many consider high 0.25-0.4 Mine like quite a bit of light and flow also as @Mr. Mojo Rising mentioned

 

[Tinnerito]

I would not say they need 'a lot' of nitrate. Maybe you can list all your parameters, that will give us more info. How old is your tank? How long did it take to melt away?

What kind of light do you have and what intensity? I would take a look at the lights before trying pinpoint the solution on a specific nitrate level.

Is there any flow in the tank? Corals can melt away in non-moving water.

Basically need more info to offer any suggestion

I will give you all the information that I have, however the reason I suspected nitrate was because a reefer had told me that 0.25 nitrate is too low, and that leathers are very hardy in light terms. Anyways, my tank is a 6 gallon vertical tank. (11in diameter). It is 6 &1/2 months old. 2 fish: Neon cleaner goby, Ocellaris Clownfish.

The coral was doing great for a few days until it began shrinking. It was shrinking for about 3 weeks, but only took about 3 days to completely melt. I did suspect a flow issue, as although my filter has powerful flow, I don't know how to tell where flow is hitting. Therefore I tried moving the coral from location to location to see if the flow is better. The light I use is a FluvalSea LED nano reef light, with a spectrum of white, blue, red, cyan, and violet.

Algae: low. Some diatoms on rockwork, and hairalgae on glass. Has been very easy to control.

Ammonia: 0.1ppm
Nitrate:0.25ppm
Nitrite:0
Phosphate:0.03ppm
Salinity:35ppt
Temp:79°-80° Fahrenheit
Alkalinity:8.5dkh

I hope this information helps!

 

[Tinnerito]

I don't know what the recommended number is but I've had mine for several years and nitrates have been 10-25 durring that time. My PO4 is also what many consider high 0.25-0.4 Mine like quite a bit of light and flow also as @Mr. Mojo Rising mentioned

Beautiful tank and stunning toadstool!!! :D when you say your nitrates are at 10 to 25, do you mean 0.1 to 0.25? Or straight 10 to 25? If 0.1 to 0.25, then my tank may just have a lot of dead spots :/

 

[exnisstech]

Beautiful tank and stunning toadstool!!! :D when you say your nitrates are at 10 to 25, do you mean 0.1 to 0.25? Or straight 10 to 25? If 0.1 to 0.25, then my tank may just have a lot of dead spots :/

10-25 ppm I use a Hanna hi range NO3 tester
0.25ppm may as well be zero

 

[Tinnerito]

10-25 ppm I use a Hanna hi range NO3 tester
0.25ppm may as well be zero

Ah, I see now. My nitrates are way too low. May i ask what you do to have your nitrates so high? I've been feeding my fish extra food, and cutting filtration periodically, but my nitrates still are quite low. One reason however could be that I have a big cleanup crew, and a lot of macroalgae.

 

[HNR]

Depends on the leather. Some can handle higher levels of NO3, others not so much. Generally though you do want higher levels than what you’re detecting. I recommend 5-25ppm of Nitrate and .05-.1ppm of PO4 as a general guideline. If you have a lot of macro you should look into dosing NO3, as they can bottom out pretty quickly.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

What you using for a test kit. I'm not aware of a test kit that reads down to a quarter point.

Edit Except Hanna low range

 

[dedragon]

Its going to be tough in a 6 gallon to keep everything stable. Brightwell neonitro or seachem flourish nitrogen can help to up the nitrates. Easier to see results by dosing than adding extra food and waiting

 

[Tinnerito]

Its going to be tough in a 6 gallon to keep everything stable. Brightwell neonitro or seachem flourish nitrogen can help to up the nitrates. Easier to see results by dosing than adding extra food and waiting

Yeah, i may just have to dose. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Tinnerito]

What you using for a test kit. I'm not aware of a test kit that reads down to a quarter point.

Edit Except Hanna low range

I'm nost sure of the brand, but it gives results based on a conversion chart.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Yeah, i may just have to dose. Thanks for the reply!

this is your test card?

 

[Tinnerito]

this is your test card?

That is one of them. I have bought a few test kits each with different charts, and specifics.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

That is one of them. I have bought a few test kits each with different charts, and specifics.

I don't see how you can read down to .25 nitrates. Are you sure it's not 25?

 

[Tinnerito]

I don't see how you can read down to .25 nitrates. Are you sure it's not 25?

I don't really know anymore, but I've been reading it down to the decimal for as long as I've had a saltwater tank. When I can, I'll take a look to see what the number really was.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I don't really know anymore, but I've been reading it down to the decimal for as long as I've had a saltwater tank. When I can, I'll take a look to see what the number really was.

Sounds good, and take a photo of the kit and test card showing nitrates. It will help

Edit we don't need you to retest, just photos of the kit and card

 

[Uncle99]

Leathers not good with change and like a higher end nutrient level, both very hard to maintain in 6G.

10-20ppm nitrate
.1-.2ppm phosphate

 

[Spare time]

You can supplement low nitrate by using amino acids or ammonium chloride. My tank runs near 0 nitrate constantly but I feed very heavily.

 

[Tinnerito]

You can supplement low nitrate by using amino acids or ammonium chloride. My tank runs near 0 nitrate constantly but I feed very heavily.

Yeah I am considering. Its just that I don't hear many good things about people who have dosed nitrate.