Exceptable NO3,NO2, NH3/4 levels

[vipvenom]

Hi all,
I just wanted to know what the acceptable levels of nitrate, nitrite, & ammonia are in a salwater aquarium. I have a water test kit but it doesn't really say when the levels start to become lethal or just start to stress the fish. I know that zero is the magic number but this is a new tank so the cycles may not be 100% yet. I am going to do a small water change anyways but I just want to know for future reference.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Hara]

zero is the only acceptable range for a saltwater tank except for nitrate readings. They should be zero but fish can tolerate nitrate to about 40. Inverts do not do well with nitrate. so, that being said......zero.

 

[malkore]

Yep. max nitrate in a reef setup should never ever exceed 10ppm, but ideally you want 0ppm or barely a trace. Same with phosphate levels.