i have 55 gal with a sump. its got about 70lbs+ of live rock and a dsb. its set up as a semi reef. i just wanted to know what is a safe leve for nitrate, i know that ammonia and nitrite r supposed to be at 0 but i heard that nitrate is almost always goin to be present and is safe to a certain level. the nitrate was at about 20ppm so i was curious to know if thats ok. its been set up for about a year now and everything looks really healthy and corraline is finally strating to take of somewhat. what r your opinions from experiience. also this might mean something. i almost totally tore down the wholle tank last night trying to catch a fish that was niping at my corals. about 85% was removed so the water has been finally starting to clear up since late last night early morn.
water params
- Thread starter blackthunda77
- Start date
well......20ppm is a safe level of nitrate it should however never be higher than 20. Most reefer don't allow nitrates to be higher than 10ppm.
If you aren't suffering an algae bloom, then your nitrate is probably fine. It may inhibit skeleton deposition by your corals to some extent, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.
In my 20 gallon, the nitrate hovered at about 15-20 ppm for almost a year. The corals and macroalgae were thriving, so I didn't worry much about it. Once I started dosing kalkwasser/vinegar for Ca and alkalinity, it plunged to about 2 ppm and has stayed there.
In my 20 gallon, the nitrate hovered at about 15-20 ppm for almost a year. The corals and macroalgae were thriving, so I didn't worry much about it. Once I started dosing kalkwasser/vinegar for Ca and alkalinity, it plunged to about 2 ppm and has stayed there.