Nitrate

[de108r]

Hi

Im a newbie to marine (about 4 months), I was hoping someone could please tell me the maximum level of nitrates my reef tank should be subject too. I have read 3 books and there seems to be some conflict. I was also wondering why the JBL nitrate test kit shows my tank water at 1 mg/l and the sera nitrate test kit tests the same water at 10mg/l? is there possibly a 10x factor I am not aware of? How much faith should one put into the accuracy of these test?

many thanks

 

[Gealcath]

In all cases, Nitrate should be 0 for a reef, for fish only the nitrate level can vary depending on what you stock it with.

 

[OrionGirl]

Make sure both are returning values in the same range.

Nitrates are ideally kept to less than 5 for a reef setup.

 

[de108r]

Thanks, seems time for another water change

Cheers

 

[mogurnda]

Check what the test kits are measuring, There is a factor of 4 difference between NO3/N vs NO3. 10 mg/l is fine, by the way.