What are high nitrate levels?

Empty Bottles · 07/24/2012, 11:41 PM

My tank is almost done cycling, and I want to add a few snails to help with the algae. After a water change my nitrates are 40ppm. What shoudl they be before I add some CUC?

hollister · 07/24/2012, 11:50 PM

They should be zero. And i would not add CUC untill u have a fish or two. U left very little info so hard to tell . Like tanks age and amount of LR and LS and equipment used. Adding this to your profile really helps. 4 to 6 weeks for cycle then add and fish or coral wait a week or 2 then add a fish or coral wait then add a few snails and so on.

paulus81 · 07/25/2012, 12:12 AM

It depends on what you are going to run in the tank. Though zero is best.

thegrun · 07/25/2012, 07:54 AM

While I agree 0 ppm is best, if you are keeping a fish only tank I would try to keep the nitrates below 20 ppm not because higher levels than 20 are toxic to the fish but to keep the algae growth down (algae feeds on nitrates). If you are keeping soft corals, 5 ppm of nitrates would be the upper limit, for SPS corals 0 ppm.

Entropy · 07/25/2012, 09:18 AM

I would shoot for under 10ppm. The lower the better. Some snails are much hardier than others so it will depend on what you plan to add.

MrTuskfish · 07/25/2012, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegrun

While I agree 0 ppm is best, if you are keeping a fish only tank I would try to keep the nitrates below 20 ppm not because higher levels than 20 are toxic to the fish

Would you have a source for the nitrates are toxic to fish number? I've looked for confirmed info on this for years and never found more than anecdotal info. Although I sure don't encourage high nitrates, for a few reasons, I don't believe that nitrates hurt fish at almost any level. Many FOWLR tanks are kept with nitrates higher than I'm willing to post.

07/24/2012, 11:41 PM	#1
Empty Bottles Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 291	What are high nitrate levels? My tank is almost done cycling, and I want to add a few snails to help with the algae. After a water change my nitrates are 40ppm. What shoudl they be before I add some CUC?

07/25/2012, 09:18 AM	#5
Entropy Texas Reefer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Round Rock, TX Posts: 13,656	I would shoot for under 10ppm. The lower the better. Some snails are much hardier than others so it will depend on what you plan to add. __________________ Rich Overton 150G cube FOWLR, 30g sump, ReefKeeperII, 3x Koralia 1400's, QuiteOne 3000, Reef Octopus DNWB150, 4x 30w Par38 LED. Current Tank Info: 36x36x27 150g

07/24/2012, 11:50 PM	#2
hollister Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 2,037	They should be zero. And i would not add CUC untill u have a fish or two. U left very little info so hard to tell . Like tanks age and amount of LR and LS and equipment used. Adding this to your profile really helps. 4 to 6 weeks for cycle then add and fish or coral wait a week or 2 then add a fish or coral wait then add a few snails and so on.

07/25/2012, 12:12 AM	#3
paulus81 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 11	It depends on what you are going to run in the tank. Though zero is best.

07/25/2012, 07:54 AM	#4
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	While I agree 0 ppm is best, if you are keeping a fish only tank I would try to keep the nitrates below 20 ppm not because higher levels than 20 are toxic to the fish but to keep the algae growth down (algae feeds on nitrates). If you are keeping soft corals, 5 ppm of nitrates would be the upper limit, for SPS corals 0 ppm.