Nitrate Level for Reef Tank

[kar081773]

I currently have a 210 gallon fish only tank with live rock and I would like to try some corals, but I'm scared to because my nitrates are at 10. I wanted to try some mushrooms because I have read that they are a good starter. I guess I should add that this is an established tank, about 2 years old. All of my other parameters are fine, just didn't know if a mushroom could handle any nitrates at all.

Any other suggestions for easy care corals would be greatly appreciated!

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by kar081773
http:///forum/post/3221569
I currently have a 210 gallon fish only tank with live rock and I would like to try some corals, but I'm scared to because my nitrates are at 10. I wanted to try some mushrooms because I have read that they are a good starter. I guess I should add that this is an established tank, about 2 years old. All of my other parameters are fine, just didn't know if a mushroom could handle any nitrates at all.

Any other suggestions for easy care corals would be greatly appreciated!

A 10ppm nitrate reading is perfectly fine. If it were 30+, that's when I'd be really concerned. 10 is nothing.

 

[kar081773]

Thank you for your response.

 

[socal57che]

"Nitrate is often associated with algae, and indeed the growth of algae is often spurred by excess nutrients, including nitrate. Other potential aquarium pests, such as dinoflagellates, are also spurred by excess nitrate and other nutrients. Nitrate itself is not particularly toxic at the levels usually found in aquaria, at least as is so far known in the scientific literature. Nevertheless, elevated nitrate levels can excessively spur the growth of zooxanthellae, which in turn can actually decrease the growth rate of their host coral.
For these reasons, most reef aquarists strive to keep nitrate levels down. A good target is less than 0.2 ppm nitrate. Reef aquaria can function acceptably at much higher nitrate levels (say, 20 ppm), but run greater risks of the problems described above."
--Randy Holmes-Farley--

 

[king_neptune]

When my scrubber was up and running a bad day would be .1
Recently it shot up to 10, but it is sliding back down now, its the skimmer.I get my new bulbs tomorrow, and Ill be hooking up my scrubber again. In the meantime I still got a skimmer going. I love that thing!
I cant wait till I get them both tuned in and running simultaneously. I love the merits of both. But if I had to choose...
Skimmer.
My scrubber is definitely more powerful from what Ive seen so far.
It totally helps saturate the whole system with a rich bio-diversity.
But the skimmer gives you that pristine clear water, and surface that cant be overlooked. I want to see how they work combined.

 

[spanko]

To the OP. Your reading of 10 nitrate is acceptable for some coral but may be detrimental to others.
If you are looking to keep things like mushrooms, zoanthids and soft corals you will be fine. If you want to get into some of the SPS corals you will find you need to get the nitrates down to as close to zero as you can measure.
Randy-Holmes Farley hits it right on with his discussion of unwanted algae and other problems though. So there are multiple considerations here.