Nitrate way too high, Does it kill favia and candycane??

[syilk1]

I found my Nitrate to be 100 on Saliferts test, Just did a 30% water change and now is 50. When should I do another one and is this a reason my few corals are dying. Kh and calcium are perfect.

[m3rcury]

my understanding is that high nitrates certainly can kill corals. i've heard conflicting things about this, but most would agree that over 10 is too high. according to the info on most nitrate tests, above 50 can be toxic to fish, 100 is def. a problem.

you should really try to find the source of your high nitrates.

1) do you have anything that died in your tank and is rotting
2) have you been keeping up with your water changes
3) do you overfeed any fish
4) do you have sponges/filter floss/etc that has not been rinsed and/or changed

i'm not sure about additional water changes. i've heard that it can be good to do a couple of massive water changes over the course of 3 days or so. i've also heard that you should not do big water changes more often that every 3 days. perhaps someone with more experience can chime in.

the key for you is to find the source of the nitrates. if your nitrates are that high, bringing them down with water changes is only a temporary solution. they will go right back up because there is a MAJOR source of nitrates somewhere in your system.

[bertoni]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

That article covers nitrate issues in detail. More information about the filtration of your system, stocking, etc, might help, too.

[ZoeReef]

When your nitrates are that high, I can't imagine that doing a massive water change could do anything but help.

Good post M3

[bertoni]

I would be careful about massive water changes. They can do more harm than good. 50ppm nitrate isn't known to be harmful to fish. Lots of people run tanks for years with nitrate over 100 ppm with no problems for their fish. The only actual study that shows toxicity for fish found issues at 600 ppm.

[m3rcury]

thanks for clarifying bertoni. i was just basing my comments off what the nitrate test kits say.

[syilk1]

Well doon enough Melev is sending me a sump and with start growing the macro algae and hopefully help with problem. I should be better with water changes and wet/dry i have now I am sure will be a problem but have to wait till Sump gets here.
Thanks for all your input guys.