Nitrates

[d2mini]

It's been a while since I've had a new tank.
Right now my nitrates are sitting at around 15-20 from what I can tell with this API liquid test kit. Is this considered too high for fish? Or within an acceptable range? I did a water change two days ago but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
I want to move my clown over from my old tank but I'm skeered. :shock:

 

[wontonflip]

Yeah I had the same problem w/ my 125. According to Biff, she's had nitrates as high as 150ppm, and the fish seemed fine. I was worried cuz I have 20ppm, and my pep shrimp died, possibly from the nitrates, and I was worried if the fish would be ok. They seem fine, though. I can't pick up salt until next week (snowed in)

 

[chiqui bb]

My tank has been up for 4 months now and the nitrates remain at 20-30 regardless of how many water changes I do. It's frustrating because I feel the need to strive for zero nitrates. I think I'm a bad fish mommy.....

 

[Justinthereefer]

I think it will clear up i set up in november,they got up around 20ppm.Right around christmas they went down to ten.I just checked a minute ago and they are now undetectable.this is my first time that has happened im pysched.I change about 8 gallons every saturday

 

[Bifferwine]

Fish are not going to be impacted by anything at 20 or less. The vast majority of corals won't be impacted by nitrates at that level -- the exception is SPS corals. My old tank got to 150 at its worst -- but I believe it took a long time to get there, so my livestock had plenty of time to adapt! I would NOT recommend this approach!! ;)

 

[Hiker4twenty]

For about 5 months I battled my nitrate level. It constantly hovered around 20ppm. My fish, inverts and corals all were ok...but I did not have any sps at the time. Since I installed a fuge my nitrates have been consistantly at 0ppm. I also changed my feeding schedule to once every other day and I think that helped as well. I think for me to be at 0ppm is good with having 5 fish in a 29g.

 

[sen5241b]

I've seen my Mandarin Goby start looking sick at 20ppm nitrates.

 

[yote]

Nitrates at 15 to 20 aint really THAT bad.It just takes time for a new tank to stabilize enough to be able to convert nitrates to nitrogen.

 

[Tristan]

when my nitrates go high my snails try to escape from the water, and my feather dusters dont open up all the way until i do a change, then everything turns to normal. so with my experience with nitrates is that the inverts are mostly affected. except for crabs. only crabs can kill crabs

 

[yvr]

[FONT=&quot]A water change is a sure fire way to bring down the nitrates in your tank but, understanding why you have elevated nitrates is very important. Keeping excess nutrients out of the aquarium water is one key element in reducing your NO3. As you may know, dirty bio media become a nitrate factory, most people don't use any additional bio media besides live rock in their tanks. There are many other things that can add excess nutrients into your tank like some commercial foods which may contain undesirable things like nitrates, phosphates etc and overfeeding the tank is also another factor. Using , RO/DI water, a high quality salt with no NO3, phosphates etc like Tropic Marin or similar good quality salt should really help too. You may also want to have your LFS retest your water to be sure that you are getting accurate results. [/FONT]