Will this work?

[pIankton]

Quick background first:

I'm running 2 tanks at the moment. My 90 is my main display that's in my living room, and the other is a 20 long (clown / anemone tank) in my bedroom. The main display has been up for right over a year and all parameters are fine. My issue is the 20 which is suffering from high nitrates (50+).

There is no hair algae, cyano or anything that would make you think the nitrates were high at all. As a matter of fact, I just happened to check it the other day and was shocked at the result. I even ran the test on my 90 thinking my kit was bad and they came back as being undetectable. Then I double checked everything again - same results. I've read Randy's articles on nitrates last night while doing a water change and thought of the following questions:

Since most people handle nitrates with water changes, would it be a benefit to change the 20's water with water from my 90? The 90 is pest free, etc. and the params are good. OR, since the 20 has high nitrates, can I change that water with fresh, clean water and actually use that water for my 90 as a source of nitrogen for the corals?

Sounds kind of dumb and opposite to what most people would do, but was thinking that water could feed and color up my colors some.

[ReefWreak]

I would never cross contaminate tanks regardless. I guess the only reason to suggest doing so is to save money on water? I would spend the money and know for sure that everything is fine. And no, I wouldn't switch water from a tank with high nitrate to one that has low nitrate. While it will probably break it down eventually, it's putting additional stress on the nitrogen cycle in the tank, which is totally unnecessariy. It may or may not be able to break down the nitrates in a timely fashion.

I'm sure that the Chem Forum Gurus will have a better answer though :)

[pIankton]

It's cool - something I was thinking of is all. I was reading that additional sources of nitrogen would spur photosynthesis and chlorophyll production causing better coloration and zooxanthellae production and thought maybe it would be a benefit instead of a detriment.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

From a nitrate perspective, that is a fine plan, but some of the other benefits of water changes (adding or exporting various ions) that are not optimal in the 90 will be missed.