Nitrates at 40+

[fishyreef13]

My tank is a fluval evo 13.5 gallon. I had a faulty test kit (Fritz) that was telling me my nitrates was 0. I mistakenly started dosing nitrates which I should not have done. And I ended up shooting my nitrates up to 80+. I’m now around 40 nitrates. All my corals look relatively fine, other than my alveopora. From here on should I continue my 25% water changes or should I try to get them down to my desired level (10ppm) right away? I picked up the api test kit just so I could confirm that my old test was faulty after I was dosing and seeing no change. Should I pick up another test kit?

 

[Fish Fan]

My tank is a fluval evo 13.5 gallon. I had a faulty test kit (Fritz) that was telling me my nitrates was 0. I mistakenly started dosing nitrates which I should not have done. And I ended up shooting my nitrates up to 80+. I’m now around 40 nitrates. All my corals look relatively fine, other than my alveopora. From here on should I continue my 25% water changes or should I try to get them down to my desired level (10ppm) right away? I picked up the api test kit just so I could confirm that my old test was faulty after I was dosing and seeing no change. Should I pick up another test kit?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

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I'm sure @Randy Holmes-Farley will have some thoughts on your situation

Good luck!

 

[1ocean]

I would get a hanna checker

 

[Skippy The Meh]

I second the hannah checker advice. If its actually at 40ppm or around there i would just let it come down naturally. Alveopora is just as likely stressed from the swing as it would be from high nitrates IMO.

 

[Day2k]

what tester was it??

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

While the inaccuracy of API test kits are because they are broad and difficult to read, they do have merit. Most of my test kits are Hanna.
I would a 50% water change.... But YOU should just do a gallon a day until you get where you want to be.
Remember Nitrates do not sink or embed themselves. If you do a 30% water change you will roughly have 30% less Nitrates.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Don't dose anything based on API, its not much better than the other test you were using. Personally I would get a good test first, then test the nitrate level and then take action if needed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I recommend 5-50 ppm as a target range. Some great tanks have 100 ppm nitrate.

I personally would not do anything special if you think they are high due to overdosing. It will decline over time if that is the case.

If you really want to lower nitrate, water changes and organic carbon dosing are good options.

 

[Evil1]

I agree with Randy. My nitrates run between 25 & 50 ppm for years with no issues all fish, lps, sps and softies are thriving.