nitrate spike after dead fish.

[joaovieira]

I would like to know your opinions wether 1 dead fish (mandarim) left unremoved in the water can increase nitrates from 0.5 to 2 ? (reef SPS tank of 200 G). 1 week ago nitrates were at 0.5, yesterday at 2. Nothing else was changed as routine additions. One fish was found dead yesterday. Actually i just found a part of the fin of that fish, the remaining body did not appear. So, what should i do now to lower nitrates besides WC ?. Since i am dosing 0.2 cc zeostart 3 (carbon source mix) would you advise me to increase the dose ?

Thanks for your input. :thumbsup:

[MHG]

I have had a dispar anthis die in my 60 and could not get to him and saw nothing. The clean up crew ate him in about a half a day.... You have a 200? I would think not but just my opinion....

[joaovieira]

everuone agrees ? please share your thoughts :thumbsup:

[tmz]

2ppm nitrate is nothing to worry about.
There's no plausible way to answer how much one fish decaying would raise nitrates or phosphate either as the bones hold concentrations of that.You can add organic carbon ammonia ,nitrite and other things to the eutrophic list. How the tank process this extra food will vary based on a large number of variables.Whether it's eaten or not is the least of them as most of what is eaten comes back out particularly phospahte.

[mayjong]

no way in a 200g did a dead mandarin do that...
bad test? re-test?

[bertoni]

I'm a little surprised by the increase in nitrate, too, but it might be possible. Personally, I'd just wait a week or so, and see what happens.

[joaovieira]

Thanks everyone of the comments :beer:

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck!