Nitrates or nitrites

[xrayman]

Which one is of the most concern?I have a tetra no3 kit is this a nitrate kit it reads in mg/l is this the actual reading or do you divide it by something.It gives colors you hold your water up to once you add everything and wait ten minutes.I get a little confused when everyone talks about nitrates and nitrites.Thanks for all your help in the past.This board is great i have learned alot and still have tons to go.

 

[adrian]

Its possible to keep both the nitrites and nitrates at zero, the nitrites should be undetectable no matter what, if they are present the tank is either cycling or something dead is decaying. Nitrites are toxic in any concentration, nitrates are harmless unless they are extremely elevated, although excess nitrates can lead to algae blooms. With the tetra kit all you have to do is match the color of the liquid in the vial to that on the color chart. The tetra kit will give you an idea of your nitrate concentration, but there are more accurate tests such as salifert. HTH

 

[a&m aggie 04']

nitrites will kill, need to be at 0.
However Nitrates are ideally at 0 with a tank that has live rock and sand, but dont have to be 0. So you want your nitrites to go down to 0 before your nitrates do.

 

[xrayman]

Hey guys thanks for the quick reply my nitrates stay yellow or right between the yellow and next color.most of the time yellow.
That helped me out alot.

 

[a&m aggie 04']

I think nitrates are okay if they are hovering around 0, they just shouldnt get off the charts! Just make sure to keep checking your water, dont add too many fish add one time- will cause an ammonia spike and nitrites.
Here is the nitrogen cycle: Algae eaten by fish
Fish put off waste
Waste turns to ammonia
Ammonia is converted into Nitrites
Nitrites converted to Nitrate
Nitrogen is released from Nitrate, and some nitrate is used for nutrition for algae
Then the cycle starts over , and over!!!!
HTH,
Mark

 

[brian01]

I have High nitrares, 25-50. I have lots of live sand (40lbs and about 30 lbs live rock). What should I do to lower the nitrates? I do weekly water changes of 10%. I am going to add a refugium soon hopefully I can grow sea weed to lower nitrates. I have a protein skimmer which I thought would get rid of a lot of the nitrates..

 

[worm]

all i can say is, larger water changes...