Please help with water parameters question. (1 Viewer)

[Hangman]

I have a question regarding water parameters. I was always under the assumption that corals required absolutely pristine water quality, hence I have been working to get as clean water as I can in the tank.
Below are my test parameters using Red Sea and Salifert test kits.

Ammonia : 0.0
Nitrite : 0.0
Nitrate : 0.0
Phosphate : 0.0
Calcium : 480
Magnesium : 1290
Alkalinity : 8
pH : 8.3

I have just been told that my water is too clean for the corals. This is news to me as I always thought that coral needed as clean water as possible. I was told to raise my Nitrate and Phosphate up to 2 and .25 respectively.

Is this correct? Should I look to reduce my nutrient export to raise my nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[dragon99]

I try to mostly follow Randy Holmes-Farley's recommendation for parameters. So <0.2 NO3 and <0.03 PO4.

However, many people are keeping nitrate a bit higher than that because it seems to add to coral coloration. It wouldn't hurt to let your NO3 and PO4 rise a bit to at least detectable levels. Keep an eye out for algae or other non-desirable results.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

Depends on the type of corals but in general 0 nitrate and 0 P04 you are staving your corals.
I keep mine at 5ppm Nitrate and .03 Phosphate and every thing from mushrooms to SPS is happy and growing nicely.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

I should add I have no algae issues either at those levels but every tank is different.

 

[Hangman]

Thanks FishKeeper82. I will try to get my Nitrate and Phosphate levels up..

 

[Hangman]

Thanks Dragon99

 

[Cody]

I have a question regarding water parameters. I was always under the assumption that corals required absolutely pristine water quality, hence I have been working to get as clean water as I can in the tank.
Below are my test parameters using Red Sea and Salifert test kits.

Ammonia : 0.0
Nitrite : 0.0
Nitrate : 0.0
Phosphate : 0.0
Calcium : 480
Magnesium : 1290
Alkalinity : 8
pH : 8.3

I have just been told that my water is too clean for the corals. This is news to me as I always thought that coral needed as clean water as possible. I was told to raise my Nitrate and Phosphate up to 2 and .25 respectively.

Is this correct? Should I look to reduce my nutrient export to raise my nitrate and phosphate levels?

Corals have chlorophyll in them, just the same as any plant. Of course they use light to provide food and grow, but just like the algae in some people's tanks, the corals need PO4 and NO3 to grow. Now that your nutrients are low, I would keep the filtration system the same but try to add more nutrients into the tank. Shoot for high import and high export and you will be able to raise nutrients without allowing algae a large enough window to take a strong hold.

 

[Hangman]

Thank you for the tips Cody..

 

[FarmerTy]

Depends on the type of corals but in general 0 nitrate and 0 P04 you are staving your corals.
I keep mine at 5ppm Nitrate and .03 Phosphate and every thing from mushrooms to SPS is happy and growing nicely.

+1, get some nutrients back in the system.

 

[Mark L.]

Agree with everyone. My SPS have been thriving and developed nice deep rich color after raising my NO3 & PO4 from 0 to 5ppm/.05ppm respectively.

 

[FarmerTy]

FWIW, here are progression shots of one of my acros in the tank. I was dosing potassium nitrate to keep nitrates at 5ppm but it was hard to maintain it there consistently while I had all my fish out of the tank.

You can almost literally see when I put the fish back in. The coral colors started getting deeper and more colorful and was better maintained with a natural fish population than dosing could ever do.