NO3 at 0.... sps reef, should be at .5ppm correct?

[acropora4u]

so , i posted this to Randy in the reef chemistry forum, but want to ask the SPS group... NO3 should be at least .5ppm right? my NO3 is at 0.00ppm and corals not looking good.. all other parameters are salinity is 1.026 PO4- 0.06. calcium 440, alk at 8.5 magnesium at 1300 temp 78.0 steady, i am concerned about the No3... should be at 0.5ppm at least- right?

 

[MrPike]

I have successfully growing Acropora and my N03 is around .5.

That being said, boosting nitrate may not fix your issues with sps. How I understand it is that when you measure N03, the result is the residual nutrients not used by your aquarium ecosystem.

It’s possible for sure that your coral is starving and there are no residuals, but it’s not 100%. It’s not completely clear if all sps prefer to use N03 as their food either, so dosing might give mixed results.

I struggled a bit with poor color on a tank I was working on and ended up turning off the skimmer to allow more food to get to coral. Seemed to work pretty well. I personally would try that before dosing N03 directly.

 

[nereefpat]

0.00? How are you measuring that many significant digits?