Nitrates

[JamisonBWolsh]

Originally posted by RTR
" NITRATES is NOT TOXIC.. " is poor grammar and incorrect.

1.) I didnt know I was writing a english paper? If i misspell a word or have a run-on sentence. Whats the big deal?

Anyway, here is my sentence in its context:

Its always better to have it lowered, but high nitrates is not all that bad. Its mainly a "warning sign" that shows some undesirables are also at high levels. NITRATES is NOT TOXIC.. read the article...

Here is a sentence from that article.

I will start by stating one simple fact, nitrates are not particularly toxic.

So am I INCORRECT ..no..is my grammar wrong...YES..I should have said "are" instead of "is". Sorry English Teacher. Never knew it was SO IMPORTANT!!!
Also, my opinions were Based on those 2 articles listed previously

 

[carpguy]

The grammar and spelling isn't really a big deal, but it does make it a lot easier to understand a post. Sum of the. RANDOM fratcuered b carelsssly written. Stuff can be a little hard to decipher. Its sort of a sign of respect for the others on the board when you make the extra effort.

Neither article says that nitrates aren't toxic. The one that says "nitrates are not particularly toxic! " also says "a planehead filefish, reached 50% mortality at 500mg/l the low for marine fishes." Anything that can kill half the fish in the tank is toxic. The same article mentions elevated levels being ok for a short period (suggesting they'd be less good for a longer period). Both articles recommend keeping nitrates below 40 ppm for Marine FO tanks, lower still if there are invertabrates around. Neither article mentions freshwater.

Other sources I've seen, specifically talking about freshwater, suggest keeping nitrates below 40-50 ppm. They generally say things like "Nitrate is toxic for fish, just much less so than ammonia or nitrites" and "for hobbyists, nitrate is best used as indicator - that if nitrate is accumulating, so are phenols, pheromones/hormones, all the general DOC and the inorganics which are not readily measured and which are also undesirable in fish tanks. Nitrate level in FO tanks is an indicator of the general pollution level in the water".

 

[Sumpin'fishy]

Uh-huh! ditto that!

 

[Sumpin'fishy]

I think this whole forum is geared toward getting people to take better care of their fish, not slack off just cause it doesn't kill them.

 

[slipknottin]

Personally, i found it amusing how both articles say "nitrates arent particularly toxic" yet then spend an entire page talking about how to lower it.


Constant medium to high levels of nitrates ARE toxic. Both links previously provided verify that. Short term exposure is less so, much like exposure to ammonia at low levels isnt all that toxic. After all, most fish we have would be more likely to have ammonia in their water in nature than nitrates.