Corals reduce nitrates!
- Thread starter cgj
- Start date
perfectdark
Active Member
Indeed... I agree...
farslayer
Active Member
Actually that is absolutely true, corals do utilize nitrates. Remember, the beneficial zooxanthellae will utilize nitrates for growth. The reason we keep nitrate low is to prevent the extreme growth of the zooxanthellae, which actually causes the coral to reduce its growth rate substantially. Organisms such as anemones, algae, and coral will utilize nitrate, but the soft corals appear to be the ones which benefit over the more calcerous corals; the theory is that the elevated nitrate causes the host coral to compete with the zooxanthellae for inorganic carbon (the study was conducted using Porites compressa).
This comes from Advanced Aquarist magazine, August 2003. It's a bit out of date, and I've not updated myself as to the literature, but point being is that adding corals can reduce nitrate levels, if the research is correct.
This comes from Advanced Aquarist magazine, August 2003. It's a bit out of date, and I've not updated myself as to the literature, but point being is that adding corals can reduce nitrate levels, if the research is correct.
farslayer
Active Member
Originally Posted by drea
xenia def helps, mine readings were never 0 till i added xenia, its just amazing! and these readings are feeding everyday, and a month w/o water changes (usually i change every 2 weeks)
There are lots of people who use Xenia in their fuge instead of chaeto, and it goes along with the findings of the studies cited in the article I mentioned. Soft corals (not all!) can readily benefit from nitrates. There has not been any causation found to my knowledge, only a correlation, but it is fascinating. Using this knowledge you can build fuges based on something other than algaes. Science is wonderful!
xenia def helps, mine readings were never 0 till i added xenia, its just amazing! and these readings are feeding everyday, and a month w/o water changes (usually i change every 2 weeks)
There are lots of people who use Xenia in their fuge instead of chaeto, and it goes along with the findings of the studies cited in the article I mentioned. Soft corals (not all!) can readily benefit from nitrates. There has not been any causation found to my knowledge, only a correlation, but it is fascinating. Using this knowledge you can build fuges based on something other than algaes. Science is wonderful!
bullitr
Active Member
Originally Posted by drea
xenia def helps, mine readings were never 0 till i added xenia, its just amazing! and these readings are feeding everyday, and a month w/o water changes (usually i change every 2 weeks)
that is why i have 3 kinds of xenias in my tank to keep my sps happy
xenia def helps, mine readings were never 0 till i added xenia, its just amazing! and these readings are feeding everyday, and a month w/o water changes (usually i change every 2 weeks)
that is why i have 3 kinds of xenias in my tank to keep my sps happy