What You Should Know About Nitrate
A lot of new fans believe that nitrate is bad. When it gets too high, reef tanks don’t do well. Corals still need a small amount of nitrate to stay healthy, grow well, and keep their color.
How do you explain nitrate?
Nitrate is a chemical that can be found in the world. Nitrogen and oxygen come together to make it. It is mostly made in tanks, where trash like fish waste is broken down. Yes, this trash turns into something else when it’s broken down.
Why is nitrate important?
Zinc is important for zooxanthellae, which live on top of coral polyps. The zooxanthellae give the coral the food it needs to live and grow in exchange for keeping the coral safe. If pink has the right amount of nitrate, it can also look better. In that case, coral won’t grow, reefs will turn brown, and algae will spread to places it doesn’t belong. Also, fish can get sick or even die if there are too many nitrates in the water.
Remember that the best range for reef tanks is between 0.025 ppm and 5 ppm.
Nitrate Can Be Found in Several Ways
Most people check their reef tanks for nitrates in the following ways, which cost the most:
1. A light meter
Photometers are the best and easiest to use, but they cost the most. A measure cup needs a little water in it before it can be used. What it found will then be shown on a computer screen.
2. Tester on the Go
Is another name for a tester that you can hold in your hand. It is also easy to use and doesn’t cost as much as a photometer. Put some water in a box to test, just like you would with a photometer.
3. Test set
It doesn’t cost much to get a test kit and find out how much nitrate is in something. A small amount of water is used in these kits to match its color to a chart. This tells you how much nitrate is in the water right now.
What You Can Do to Keep Nitrate Levels Normal
A lot of people like these ways to keep their tank’s nitrate level steady:
1. Swap out some of the water every day with clean, nitrate-free water. This helps get rid of nitrate buildup. If it is too high, you should change the water more often until it is back in the right range.
2. Don’t fill the car up too much. If you put too much in the tank, it will waste more, which makes the nitrate level go up.
3. Don’t feed your fish too much. There are more nitrates in the water because fish that are fed too much make more waste.
4. Put organic carbon into the mix. This can be a liquid or bio-pellets. Good bacteria that break down nitrates and phosphates will get food from this. The water is cleaner because a good protein skimmer gets rid of germs.
5. Taken to a refugee camp. No nitrates need to be added because macroalgae eat minerals, so they can do it on their own. There should be enough room in the refugium to hold all the water in the tank.
What do nitrate and phosphate do for each other?
To stay healthy, corals need 16 times more phosphates than nitrates. This is known as the Redfield Ratio. The good bacteria in the system can’t break down phosphate as well as they should if there isn’t enough nitrate. This creates more phosphate in the system. If there is a lot of calcium in the water, algae that are bad for you get bigger. There must be enough phosphate, though, for the good bacteria to be able to break down the nitrate.
It’s important to keep the right amount of nitrates in our reef tanks because they are very good for them. It’s important to test and change the water often to keep nitrates from becoming a problem.