Nitrates always zero

[Threedo]

I have a 90 gal with a sump/refugium and some macro algae 2 filter socks and a skimmer. I test but my nitrates never seem to go up... i had a bad hair algae problem but it is about all gone since i got a phosphate reactor and did some water changes and had a Naso tang that ate all of it but unfortunately would not eat anything else... i tried 10 foods but he would not eat and got sick and died... my macro algae also does not seem to be doing all that well.

back on subject is it normal to have nitrates stay at zero always? I have been doing 15-20% water changes the past month to rid the hair algae but should i continue to do them with these numbers

amonia - 0
nitirte - 0
nitrate - 0 (i have tried 2 test kits)
phosphates - 0
calcium - 420
kh - very high around 15
ph - 8.2 - 8.4

I have 5 damsels a clown fish and a lawnmower blenny.

[tkeracer619]

You will get them eventually. You want to keep them low. Don't slack off on what your doing.

A 90g is too small for a naso. They are hard tangs to keep if they don't eat before you buy them. I would never purchase a fish that isn't already healthy and eating.

[DrBegalke]

How long has your tank been up?

[thegrun]

With a refugium and regular water changes you can keep them at zero. I haven't tested for nitrates in a couple of years, they are always at zero.

[singold]

What livestock do you have in the tank currently?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, a lot of nitrate kits are inaccurate.

[SecretiveFish]

IMO, it is unusual for nitrates to never go up. The only tanks I have that have extremely low nitrates have a lot of macro algae in them.

FWIW, my first saltwater tank was at 0 nitrates for over 1 year! Well not really, I was not using the API nitrate test kit test properly. When I finally did the test right, the nitrates were actually in the 80-100ppm! Are you rinsing the test tube with tank water before filling to the line with tank water (tap water can skew you results)? How old is the test kit (chemicals can become inert)? Are you shaking Bottle 2 for 60 seconds before adding to the test tube? Are you shaking the test tube for 60 seconds after adding both chemicals? Do you then wait the 10 minutes (or is it 15? I can't remember right now)?

Have you had your LFS test your water to verify your results? This would give you the greatest confidence that your tests are correct.

[danil]

..is it normal to have nitrates stay at zero always?..
Not sure about 'normal' it depends but possible. Mine stays 0 all the time and I do have red turf algae in my tank. I tried all brands of test kits and all show 0 nitrate. I used to have macro in my sump but it wasn't doing great so I just remove it. At this point I'm convinced that having 'something' in the water column is not the same as having 'something' in your substrate or rocks. The algae can get what it needs from rocks and sand and some types of it needs very little. I now think that properly 'cooked' life rocks should be really good thing!
Back to the topic - having nitrate glued to '0' value is not a best thing. My corals don't like it. Just put more fish food does not work for me at all (as many people would advise) So I tried different products of reef foods and at this point having good results using AquaVitro Fuel. My nitrate still at magical '0' but corals are not starving.

[rcmania]

if your test kit is anything like mine (API), I was always getting a zero reading, however i learned on here that the Nitrate test bottles need to be shook for about 10 minutes. After I did a complete shake for that length of time, i had a nitrate reading at 20ppm.

[Threedo]

i follow the instructions and have tried 2 api test kits.. the one in my saltwater kit and the one in my reef master kit. Both get zero and the LFS got zero but they are also using the api test kits.

[Threedo]

my tank has been up for around 5 months

[rcmania]

ok, but i followed the directions also and was reading 0ppm, Then i tried the one guys suggestion on here and shook the bottles for ten minutes, then ran the test and got a 20ppm reading. If you try the ten minutes method and still get a reading of 0 then its probably safe to say that your at 0. However i would grab both bottles (one in each hand) and start shaking them for at least 10 minutes, run the test again.

[Threedo]

it only says to shake bottle 2 and then the test tube. 10 minutes sounds excessive but ill try shaking it a lot longer tonight. The directions say bottle 2 for 30 seconds and then mix the test tube for 1 minute and then let sit for 5 minutes.

[Threedo]

Although i changed 15 gal last night so even if there are any its prob very low now.

[rcmania]

yea it wont hurt to give it a try, let us know what your results are.

[thor109]

My kit says shake bottle 2 30 secs add 10th drops shake sample 1 minute.

I tried both way 0 & 0

I did seachem and had slight color change but not really anything.
I did seachem ref test and it was dead on.

You guys had me worried for a minute

[Ron Reefman]

I haven't had anything but a zero for nitrates for a year now, but I also have a lot of LR, a coil denitrator, DSB, macro algae in the refugium and some really nice red/purple macro algae growing in the nem tank. Just to test I went 8 weeks without a water change and still no nitrates.

[danil]

I think at this point the answer is clear - yes it is possible have 0 nitrates.