What Are ACTUAL Acceptable Nitrate Levels?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So I've been watching a lot of videos/reading a lot of articles and a lot of people say 20-40ppm for Nitrates is when you need to be doing a water change. Other people say just do them weekly, bi-weekly, etc. etc.. Other people say Nitrates should never be above 5ppm. So what is it REALLY?

IMO, this is like demanding your doctor tell you what is the ACTUAL number of potato chips you can safely eat in a day. Both questions have no singularly perfect answer.

Some great tanks that almost everyone envies have 100 ppm nitrate. Would the tank be even better in some way at 10 ppm nitrate? Can’t really be said with certainty.

I personally recommend 2-10 ppm nitrate as a goal, and being above thst range is much better than being below it.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I try to keep it above 0 to about 10 ppm range. I don't think higher is a big deal unless it is driving pest algae.

 

[JSkeleton]

IMO, this is like demanding your doctor tell you what is the ACTUAL number of potato chips you can safely eat in a day. Both questions have no singularly perfect answer.

Some great tanks that almost everyone envies have 100 ppm nitrate. Would the tank be even better in some way at 10 ppm nitrate? Can’t really be said with certainty.

I personally recommend 2-10 ppm nitrate as a goal, and being above thst range is much better than being below it.

Oh boy, lots of variables then eh? So in that case, are measuring Nitrates usually pointless? And if Nitrates are not the way to measure how toxic your tank is getting, then what? Strictly Ammonia/Nitrites?

Also, BRB, calling my Doctor (haha jk)

 

[Thales]

IMO, this is like demanding your doctor tell you what is the ACTUAL number of potato chips you can safely eat in a day. Both questions have no singularly perfect answer.

Some great tanks that almost everyone envies have 100 ppm nitrate. Would the tank be even better in some way at 10 ppm nitrate? Can’t really be said with certainty.

I personally recommend 2-10 ppm nitrate as a goal, and being above thst range is much better than being below it.

Hi Randy,

I brought my tank down from high levels and see no difference at all.
Phosphate high was 1.6 mg/l phosphate and nitrate high was 142 mgl in 2018. Honestly, 142 made me nervouse and it was only that high for a few months. Currently, .18 mg/l phosphate and 16 mg/l nitrate.

 

[mcgallagherc]

I'm struggling to get them up, not sure if thats good or bad. Just tested again tonight and got same results. Going to start feeding a little heavier before I dose.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I'm struggling to get them up, not sure if thats good or bad. Just tested again tonight and got same results. Going to start feeding a little heavier before I dose.

I'd respectfully suggest dosing.

If you let them bottom out, you will likely have big problems in no time.

Keep those nitrates over 5ppm.

Trust me on this.

 

[Spare time]

Lol no one knows. There are possible issues with elevated nitrate or phosphate with the other one being very low (this is also including organic carbon) where zooxanthellae can begin to compete with the coral. I can try and find the article later. Other than this, it's more or less just a guessing game. One of the few studies on fish we keep shows fatalities ranging from 400ppm or something to clownfish at 1000ppm (roughly, I can't search the articles at the moment I'm typing this). However living or dead is not a good indicator of health or well-being. Arguably it's best to just keep nitrate very low but detectable. When keeping low nitrate, you can run 0 if you have heavy input into the system. My tank normally runs 1ppm ish nitrate with a hanna hr checker. This is my preferred method. High input high output. I put a hefty amount of reef energy in and feed my fish 2-4 times a day depending on how often I walk by the tank. Aminos are my preferred form of nitrogen dosing as I think is better than nitrate dosing and less risky than ammonia dosing

So what's an acceptable range? Well, you can pick a bunch of recommendations and probably do fine.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

> 0

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Oh boy, lots of variables then eh? So in that case, are measuring Nitrates usually pointless? And if Nitrates are not the way to measure how toxic your tank is getting, then what? Strictly Ammonia/Nitrites?

Also, BRB, calling my Doctor (haha jk)

No, because undetectable N and P can lead to serious issues.

I also think that excessively high levels are undesirable, which is why I recommend a target range even if we do not know what levels exactly accomplish what in a given aquarium without testing it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi Randy,

I brought my tank down from high levels and see no difference at all.
Phosphate high was 1.6 mg/l phosphate and nitrate high was 142 mgl in 2018. Honestly, 142 made me nervouse and it was only that high for a few months. Currently, .18 mg/l phosphate and 16 mg/l nitrate.

Thanks for the update!

 

[Shevlin77]

My tank is 5 months old and professionally set up. Last param check was nitrate-2-5, PO4-umdetectable, calcium-400, alk-8.9

1 clown, firefish, midas blenny, benghai Cardinal, LNB, watchman goby, arrow crab, cleaner shrimp, BTA which recently split, torch, zoa colony, blasto, couple mushrooms, meat coral.

Having trouble getting PO4 and nitrate up. Torch not fully extending and meat coral starting to show skeleton(moved to a very low light spot tonight)

I unplugged skimmer a week ago to try and elavate some nutrients but not much look? Time to start dosing? I do add 2 part for calcium a few times a week.

I’d try feeding more. If you feed the tank once a day start doing 2 to 3 times a day. If you’ve already feeding a couple times a day just feed more each time. Doing that brought my nutrients back up.

 

[Shevlin77]

At least not on my new current tank. Think last time I checked nitrates was like 5+ yrs ago.
D

Be careful man….. I did the same thing for years without testing and then finally bottomed nutrients out without knowing it….then I had a Dino explosion. It was so painful I now test every couple of days lol

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Lol. Yes I've had dinoflagellates in the past. Usually before or followed by really bad cyano.
I don't think dinos and nutrient levels really have much in common. Meaning I don't think they're necessarily tied together.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I don't believe in zeros. Yes low but not zero. Undetected
D

 

[killer2001]

I recently tested a sample of water from the Atlantic Ocean with Hanna checkers. Got 0.0 for Nitrate, and 0.05 Phosphate, salinity around 37 ppt.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I recently tested a sample of water from the Atlantic Ocean with Hanna checkers. Got 0.0 for Nitrate, and 0.05 Phosphate, salinity around 37 ppt.

I think that the ocean biome is vastly different to that in a saltwater aquarium..

I don't believe you can compare the two.

 

[Max93]

I’m always amazed at how different everyone’s tanks are. Here’s what works for me:

my millie was the first to sing - tested nitrates and phosphates with Hannah checks: .34 and 37 (what in the world?!). Three fish have gone MIA from a recent order that was shipped and FedEx delayed it by a business day… so I’m sure that was the long term cause of shipping delay.

anywho, I did correctional water changes (55g PER DAY) on a 200 gallon system and I’m finally down to 15 nitrates and .15 phosphates and the millie is back to being it’s fluffy self. I think the best thing to do is listen to your corals. Once you have an older system, the biomass itself will take care of your nitrates/phosphates more efficiently. I’ve also reduced my feeding to 1 sheet of nori and 1 cube a day… I was hitting 1 sheet of nori and 4 cubes a day before.

Somehow I had no nitrates and phosphates at one point - I think my par being so low had a lot to do with it.
Geez man this hobby is wild, hitting that balance is key though, once you hit it it’s smooth sailing. Don’t forget to watch pH.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Idk I've never tested. Or phosphates. Lol
D

The problem with that philosophy is that the tank can look great but can bottom out nitrates. When that happens you end up with opportunistic organisms taking over.

i check Nitrate once a week not because I fear them going high
, but I fear the opposite which usually comes without warning.

A healthy tank can from 5ppm to zero in a couple of days, simply because a coral decides to get hungrry.

 

[Thales]

A healthy tank can from 5ppm to zero in a couple of days, simply because a coral decides to get hungrry.

What is the idea behind keeping it at 5ppm?