High Nitrates

[Bristle Worm]

:eek3: Are there any detrimental effects to having high nitrates if everything else is in check?

[scubadude]

:eek3: Are there any detrimental effects to having high nitrates if everything else is in check?

Absolutely! It depends on how high, and who/what its affecting though. I know that FO (fish only) tanks will tolerate higher nitrate levels, but it does not mean that they like it. Once your tank gets cycled and you dont go above your bio-load then you really shouldnt see a spike in nitrates unless something dies, or you overfeed or drop something in the tank

[Bristle Worm]

[QUOTE=scubadude]Absolutely! QUOTE]

So what are the effects? Thanks

[scubadude]

[QUOTE=Bristle Worm]

Absolutely! QUOTE]

So what are the effects? Thanks

Im sure there are a wide array of tell tell signs. Just some that I would speculate are coral polyps not opening, coloring off, tank clarity declining, skimmer effeciency declining, algae blooms, fish/coral dieing. But just because these things could be happening doesnt mean that its high nitrates. This is why I said it depends on who/what its affecting and how high the levels are. Clams and some sponges, tunicates, gorgonians, and other variuous filter feeders actually breakdown and consume ammonia/nitrate however dont get the idea that you are safe if you stock with these animals. Most people think that because they have 0 nitrate reading from their test kits that there is NO nitrates in their system, which technically thats not correct. Actually their nitrates are being consumed as fast as they are being introduced. My point is you should not be concerned with maintaining nitrate levels but you should be more concerned with getting them as low as possible. Hope that helps answer your question?

[Ninong]

I know of some gorgeous, very successful European reef aquariums that operate with nitrate levels of ~15 ppm but most hobbyists shoot for an ideal nitrate level below 5 ppm, especially if they keep a lot of SPS corals. You may not be able to achieve a true nitrate level of ~1 ppm for many months but it's something to shoot for. You should probably hold off on adding any SPS corals to your aquarium until your nitrate levels are <20 ppm.

You can operate a fish-only marine aquarium with higher nitrate levels but going much above 40 ppm is not good. That's not to say that many public aquaria do not operate at levels higher than that but your goal should be to keep nitrate below 40 ppm -- ideally below 20 ppm -- in a fish-only tank.

Nitrate in the ocean above natural reefs varies but on average is less than 1 ppm. Elevated nitrate levels can affect coral growth and reproduction. Nitrate tolerance varies greatly depending on the species but some scleractinians are negatively impacted at levels as low as 30 ppm. Records kept by some of the older public aquaria prove that many species of fish can tolerate nitrate levels well above 100 ppm and still live long lives but that doesn't mean that lower levels wouldn't be better for them.

[Bristle Worm]

Scubadude & Ninong... Thank you both for your replies.

I guess my feeling is that is really unknown at what levels of Nitrate the stuff becomes toxic.

Nitrate though not occurring in large amounts in the wild will not actually kill anything as might Ammonia or copper. It probably only fuel unwanted algae growth and maybe clog up polyps on SPS so that it hinders their ability to feed, breath, photosynthize. or whatever. All of which are bad things, but nitrate in and of itself is not harmful in moderate levels.

So (next question).... why test for it unless you are an obsessive SPS reefer. At the point that a reefer can visually see a decilne in the tank's health, that would indicate possibly a high nitrate content and time for a water change regardless.

[Reefland]

You should test for it because once it is at an elevated level (noticeable from tank appearance and overall health) it is much harder to correct. If you test often you will see the rise beginning and have a better chance at heading it off and correcting.

As Ninong mentioned higher level of nitrates can cause corals to stop growth and reproduction. That being said it is harmful to the coral if it cannot grow and thrive and therefore these levels of nitrate should be avoided in my opinion.

[Bristle Worm]

Thanks guys.....

I also found the following reef chemsitry article by Randy Holmes Farley to be helpful as well:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

Keep on reefing!!!

[Ninong]

Thanks guys.....

I also found the following reef chemsitry article by Randy Holmes Farley to be helpful as well:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

Keep on reefing!!!

Glad you found that article! Randy has written dozens of articles on the chemistry of the reefkeeping hobby and all of them are valuable sources of unbiased information.