safe nitrate levels

[jagammo]

8 months ago i started a new 160l marine tank at the moment i am haveing trouble getting my nitrate level down from between 10 -25 . What level would it neeed to be so its safe for fish . My local shop has said 0 but even with a skimmer and partial water changes i cant get it down.

 

[Mrc8858]

It should never go above 20 in fowlr and never over 10 in a reef...are you using Ro/Di water?

 

[jagammo]

Yes i am using ro water . Everything else is fine (amonia etc) IHave no fish at present but am hopeing to add some clownfish soon if i can sort out the nitrate levels.

 

[Mrc8858]

You shouldn't have a problem getting them down then..if its at 20 I would do back to back 50% changed to get it at 5 and then stay on top of them to keep em under 10

 

[tonedogz]

Although you should continue to try to get the level down, between 10 and 40 is acceptable for fish only tanks so your ok the fish should be fine. But continue to monitor the level as you add more fish. I had a hard time getting mine down at one time also, ive had them at 50 so I started dosing vodka and now there close to 0.

 

[jagammo]

Thanks but whats that about vodka ?

 

[Mrc8858]

It's vodka dosing, literally lol... You can add small amounts of vodka on a schedule and almost completely knock out water changes if you dose the rest of the elements too..it will lower your nitrates so if you are having trouble with them its an option but imo it should not be done long term although a store near me "wet pets" which you can see the tank on YouTube has something like 500g mixed reef (and heavily stocked) that they dose and only do WCs every 3-4 months

 

[tonedogz]

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com Here's a good article for you to read. This is what started me doing vodka

 

[crister13]

How has it worked for you? I just read the article and started yesterday.

 

[54seaweed]

I just drink the stuff

 

[tonedogz]

How has it worked for you? I just read the article and started yesterday.

Its worked great for me no problems lowered my trates from 80 to 2. Just make sure you follow the directions

 

[crister13]

Wow. Ik mine are at 40-60 lol. Hopefully dropping now. I'm currently in the .2 ml stage.

 

[tonedogz]

Just an update tested today nitrates at 0

 

[Jason M]

It's vodka dosing, literally lol... You can add small amounts of vodka on a schedule and almost completely knock out water changes if you dose the rest of the elements too..it will lower your nitrates so if you are having trouble with them its an option but imo it should not be done long term although a store near me "wet pets" which you can see the tank on YouTube has something like 500g mixed reef (and heavily stocked) that they dose and only do WCs every 3-4 months

U maybe able to knock out changes on a fish only but not in a reef

 

[Mrc8858]

YouTube wet pets and there should be a few videos including one of his mixed reef that he does water changes roughly every 3 months and I've seen the tank in person which its very impressive