nitrate question

[jjspati]

I am a newbie to the salt water hobby. I just finished setting up my 45 gal set for FO. You guys have helped me out tremendously in the past. Thank you.
Ive done my research, but i guess not enough. What actually is Nitrate. What does it do. I know Nitrite is poisonous to the tank, but i dont know if Nitrate is. What are its effects to the fish and water. Nitrate is the finally part of the cycle, so what will cancel out the Nitrate in the tank. I dont know if the bacteria in the filter will take care of that also. Im just doing more research to fully understand whats going on. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanx

 

[bluto]

Nitrate is actually the least toxic (for fish anyway) byproduct of the cycle. The bacteria in your filter will not (unless it's a trickle filter, which I'm assuming it's not) do away with your nitrate. That's what water changes are for. I've heard (and I'm pretty new to this also) the nitrate level needs to be kept below 50ppm for fish and 20ppm for inverts...although I could be wrong. I set my tank up with a deep sand bed in an attempt to help control the nitrate level (I've heard it's supposed to do that)...I'll let you know how it works out.
Hope this helps.
Bluto

 

[jacrmill]

you didnt mention any LR or LS. they both help control nitrate. i believe that a protein skimmer will help too. what nitrate is, is the byproduct the bacteria that eat nitrite puts off. so the waste goes from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. nitrate is also toxic to a fish, but not nearly as toxic as ammonia or nitrite. with nitrate you want to keep it as low as possible. under 50 ppm is a good goal, but ive heard of it being alot higher than that with no loss of fish.

 

[jjspati]

thanks. 50ppm seems kind of high on the charts any way. but because im new i havent experienced it yet. Good to know Nitrate isnt as poisonous. Thanks for the info