Is 10ppm Nitrates bad????? For an established tank???

[crazyzeus1]

One of our 4 Chromis (the only fish in our reef tank) didn't show up this morning...so I'm guessing he died...
Our Nitrates are 10ppm. Is that bad? Too high? I found 1 dead hermit crab out of his shell, & another hermit was eating a dead snail....is that the cause? We have other shrimp, crabs, hermits, snails & all are OK...

 

[bigarn]

That's not a bad nitrate reading at all .... What are the ammonia and nitrite readings?

 

[crazyzeus1]

Well....my hubby got a new testing kit (we always had taken ours to the LFS for testing before), but they didn't send what he wanted...and it only tests nitrates, phosphate, & calcium levels. Ugh. So I don't know.

 

[bigarn]

The nitrates are fine, but you need to get the water tested for ammonia and nitrites. How about temp and SG?

 

[crazyzeus1]

Temp is at 79.8 & salinity is 1.024. I'll take the water in today to get tested for nitrites & ammonia.
Would a tiny Chromis in 100gal tank cause a spike in levels? I also fed Formula Two pellets three days ago that all sunk to the bottom, but our hermits ate them within a few hours (probably a 1/2 teaspoon worth or so). Could that be the problem?

 

[bigarn]

The fish could've died from causes unrelated to the water parameters, but it's still good to know where they're at just in case.

 

[crazyzeus1]

Oh, trust me, I've tried to find him. I don't want to start tearing apart the reef to look for him if he's not going to cause an ongoing problem, KWIM?

 

[bigarn]

Originally Posted by crazyzeus1
Oh, trust me, I've tried to find him. I don't want to start tearing apart the reef to look for him if he's not going to cause an ongoing problem, KWIM?
LOL ...

I meant good to know where the water parameters are at, not the fish. Although that's good to know also I guess!

 

[crazyzeus1]

I'm such a dork

 

[snailheave]

Originally Posted by crazyzeus1

I'm such a dork

i so agree!

 

[crazyzeus1]

 

[crazyzeus1]

What kind of damage will 10ppm Nitrates do to my corals or shrimp? Do we need to do a water change now...if it gets higher...not at all...is it OK???
ugh...

 

[bigarn]

I wouldn't worry unless it goes above 20 ..... it's fine right now and won't hurt anything IMO.

 

[snailheave]

you'll be fine. dork

 

[beth]

Chromis missing in action from a school is not unusal. Low fish in the pecking order.

 

[sweetdawn]

are you sure the hermit crab is dead they molt and the molt has claws and everything so you might think something died

 

[crazyzeus1]

Originally Posted by Beth
Chromis missing in action from a school is not unusal. Low fish in the pecking order.
He was the smallest fish in the group, & it DID look like the others were pecking at him when they were feeding the day before he became missing. But he never had chewed up fins or anything...

 

[crazyzeus1]

Originally Posted by sweetdawn
are you sure the hermit crab is dead they molt and the molt has claws and everything so you might think something died
Well, it may have been. But the "dead hermit crab" had a fleshy tail in the back, so I assumed it was the whole crab. He was on top of our Elephant Ear mushroom , so I got a pretty good look at him. It was gone this morning, so I"m thinking someone had a good snack last night...

 

[snailheave]

mantis shrimps kill inverts? i have a mantis shrimp who's collected half a dozen shells around his hole. and i've seen less of my inverts