FAQ #33: How do nitrates affect coral coloration in the reef aquarium?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- brs.li/KZzeovit Today on BRStv, we have another episode of BRS 52 FAQ where we answer all of your frequently asked reefing questions from our popular 52 Weeks of Reefing series.
Today we're answering Aquaticnut86’s question “How and or why do higher levels of nitrate turn your corals brown?"
So follow along as we answer today's question, provide some helpful insight, and help make reefing just bit more fun and easy for you and your tank.
Legal Stuff
The purpose and content of this video is to provide general information regarding the products and their applications as presented in the video. Aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents disclaim all express or implied warranties, in any way, related to the products and their application as presented in this video, make no representation or warranty regarding the products and the application as presented in this video and shall not be liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages of any type, including but not limited to punitive damages, or from personal injury or death resulting from or in any manner related to the video, and the products in and contents of the video. The viewer expressly agrees that aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or losses related to the products in and content of the video and hereby agrees to hold the foregoing harmless from any such losses or damages.
J.T., Thank you, sir, well done!
Ryan, I hope you gave this BRS team player some recognition.
IME, brown outs, (for experienced reefers) happen when you move them from one established environment to another. Each coral reacts differently. Some will brown out no matter how pristine the water column is others are not affected. And it is true, maintaining water is key. Take for instance, the Purple slimer coral, a common and easy acro to keep. It is an easy to keep fast growing acro. I placed this coral along with a Green Highlighter Acro and the Purple Slimer browned out, while the Green Slimer and others thrived.
Your trinity should be rock solid ( Ca, Alk, Mg) .... keep that Alk stable.. stable- one more time: s-t-a-b-l-e. If you got to adjust your Alk due to consumption, do it in tenths of a number on your doser if, if you can.
Besides keeping stable trinity values in check along with a REASONABLE NO3 and P04 , and specific gravity, Please use my check list, as it may help in your situation :)
1) If carbon dosing properly you must add amino acids sparingly.. too much amino acids =BROWN.
2) Smaller water changes weekly; for example, on a 95-100g system, Total Net Volume, including sump- remove 4 gallons only.... too much =BROWN not enough =BROWN.
3) Too LONG or STRONG or NOT ENOUGH of a lighting schedule. Corals will build up their zooxanthellae to not bleach, resulting in brown outs. Acclimate s-l-o-w-l-y or BROWN will follow. Not enough light, yep = Brown.
4) LACK OF TRACE ELEMENTS. If you are unable to titrate your base elements, use TRITON, or another trusted lab to do a battery test on your system- it will open your knowledge ten fold on what your system is lacking. Knowing what your system is consuming is priceless and that data is powerful for success. DOSE THE TRACE PEOPLE.
5) Keep you magnesium elevated. Each tank is different. Test, collect data, adjust and watch.
6) Keep your pH 8.1- 8.3 That means at night, the pH should be kept elevated. There are many ways to do that. the high end 8.3- 8.4 is ideal, though most wont be able to reach that especially if your tank is in a basement.
7) NO3 and P04 should be experimented with. I have seen better colors on MOST corals at 5 ppm NO3, but 1ppm or over of P04 is a BROWN death sentence.
8) some medications or excessive use of activated carbon is a no-no too. This is self explanatory and lead to the BROWN syndrome.
9) An over- obnoxiously rated skimmer on your system will = BROWN.
Happy reefing, party people.
Alex Kingcole Great advice!!!!!!
Can you make a video introducing new aquarists to coral keeping and how to take care of them? I saw your BRS 160 series but I still don't understand the basics for coral keeping.
the one thing I hear the most about successful tanks is stability what are some best practices to achieve stable water chemistry and what do you guys do to keep your salt mixes the same every time
I learned a lot in this episode. I am just starting to set up dosing pump. Ty Ryan.
You should check out the latest video on Sanjay's reef. It's a long video (about an hour) but very inciteful. Especially on this topic. I couldn't believe it when he said his tank runs at 0.4 phosphates and about 50 ppm nitrates!
Another great video. However I would have liked to have seen some actual numbers when referencing High and low nutrients. You briefly touched on ultra low nutrient systems, and that is typically where nitrates and phosphates are at 0. However, ultra low nutrient systems like be Zeovit, dose supplements heavily to avoid a colorless tan Coral. A tank where nitrates are just in the detectable range tend to have deeper richer colors. Pastel colors in an ultra low nutrient system, is why you could spot them a mile away. When referring to Browning Coral and higher nitrates those numbers are well into the neglectful stage, not just detectable.
I also think it's important, whenever talking about low nutrients, to mention the smaller margin of error when it comes to alkalinity swings. Ultra low nutrient systems biggest enemy is an alkalinity swing. Keeping your nitrates in the just detectable range gives you a much wider margin of error. Just changing a batch of alkalinity mix can cause a swing to start stn. That die off will cause an even bigger swing.
The trade-off is simple. Obsess overnight rates to avoid cleaning the glass every 3 days and and reduce the window of alkalinity. Or just keep your nitrates control and practice good husbandry and your tank will have a higher chance of success. But you'll just need to clean the glass every 3 days.
You. Guys. Are. The. Bomb. !!!!
Looking at his undershirt, i can only assume Ryan is Spiderman...
Well explained R.T.
I could say I was feeding too much and didn't test for a month and my green monty turned brown :( I started cutting down on feeding and placed it higher for more light and started dosing fuel and it's coming back to its nice green just in a week I've noticed it deep green coming back :)
With todays technology Ifind it very easy to maintain an uln system. I actually have to dose potassium nitrate in order to maintain 2-5 ppm nitrate in my reef. I had alot of issues with my sps fading and paling out. Check out the Redfield ratio and the direct link to nitrate, phosphate, alk, and light.
Great video and info thank you
One question:
How much of the waste products of the fish/livestock versus the addition of food to the tank contribute to the nitrate/phosphate levels?
can you share a link video to that great sps tank with metal halides. thanks
can you guys make a video on micro scrubbing? its a fairly new concept I guess.
how much consideration and relocating corals should I be concerned with to find the best placement verses placing them and allowing them to adjust to their setting.
Very valuable advice here from JT and Alex Kingcole. Thank you.
What are the best tips for maintaining a nano aquarium?
This is my second tank, 150 gal; i have never seen the nitrates or phosphates rise (undetectable), even when cycling I am using good kits, starting to suspect they are not very accurate. I have some sps that stopped growing and have browned a little... I'll do more frequent water changes 30% every week instead of 2 weeks. Do you think lighting is a big factor? I check par and use the spectrum recommended.... not sure what else could be wrong
Can you comment a bit more about the stocking habits for the BRS 160? You all added a lot of corals to the tank when you were doing the coral episodes. Do you all have stocking recommendations? Do you think putting 40 corals in the tank at once is an ok practice? Can you give us some insight on how you guys determine how many corals to start with? Will more be added down the road?
Ok. If I add 50 frags to my tank and my calicum and alkalinity are spot on, how long could the corals survive while I figure out their consumption level and new dosing regimen to handle it?
Good point. Thanks.
What is the best number to aim for a mixed reef?
So you said something about color levels or so for led lighting. I have led lights of my own but I haven't been able to find a good source of information on what "ratios" to put my color levels at. Such as which color levels provide more color like royal blue or which color provides more growth, if such a thing even exists. I haven't put my lights above 30% and since i am fairly new to the hobby i'm keeping mainly LPS and softies in my tank. Any tips?
Can you a before and now on the coral growth?
I am famous! Thanks BRS!!!
What water Parameters do you recommend I use the redsea range and I think the parameters may be too high
For example kh for mixed reef 11.5dkh
What is that coral growing with the zoas on the photo for the video? I've seen them growing with zoas a few times. It looks like a fungia but it almost looked like it was branching when I saw it in person
How has that rock been in the tank? Any flaking?
Love the videos, just need to slow down and put some breaks between sentences... Sorry but I need to constantly rewatch to catch up to what you're saying.
Other than that thanks for all the information! Came in handy
what about lps and soft corals???
Higher the nutrients we need more lighting in the tank, that’s where T5 and MHs play major role, nutrients are essential to corals, can see Sanjay and WWCs tanks they have high PAR with more LEDs. Low nutrients means starving the corals unless you have regular feeding interval programs, ultra Low nutrient tanks also may require limited lighting and May not need LEDs with high PAR >350 or intense direct lighting of LEDs could bleach most of the corals. for me Low nutrient tank is just like model with zero size figure walking on ramp 😂. I maintain nutrients @ min 15-20 with just cheato in my sump, will dose nopox 10-15 ml twice a week to keep the nutrients stable. Don’t run after numbers and don’t spend your money on going Low nutrients and crash your tank. Every tank is different, Take it slow observe and record how your corals respond step by step unlikes you have more $$$$. To be more safe and economical use T5 and LED (ex blackbox from amazon) combo works great even for SPS
What nitrates and po4 levels would be best for both colour and growth for a mixed reef with a clam and zoas?
BulkReefSupplyCom what do you think is best????
I still struggle to maintain sps corals although my tank parameters are good... I do have a high bioload however
That's probably part of my problem. I have a relatively small tank (15 gallons) and it's difficult to maintain super stable water parameters, especially without a controller... planning on a tank upgrade and maybe that will help things. Thanks BRS, your videos are always very helpful
Definitely a 90+ gallon tank, rimless!
I would like to try the Red Sea Color line but do I need any test kits associated with it?
Good to know! So is it a possibility to overdose these additives?
Is R.T. still with BRS?
R.T. left a few years back to explore a different opportunity.
What is the difference between reef salt and normal aquarium salt?
More additives the coral need like iodine and strontium.
1GolfJones So if I added supplements for those would it be the same?
Adding, testing for, and adjusting all of the different elements, compounds, etc. to a deficient salt mix would be much more expensive and labor intensive than just starting with a proper reef salt.
BulkReefSupplyCom I found that out the hard way after running out of my Coral Pro salt and have to use a regular mix grin the local pet shop. levels dropped drastically. have you guys dove video on levels groin different salt mixes vs dosing?
how come i never see alot of base rock in a reef tank?
Aquascaping is a lot of personal preference with a little bit of trend thrown in there too. It used to be common to fill the tank with as much rock as you could, but now the trend seems to be a more minimalist approach.
Is 20ppm nitrate too high in a 20g tank? No matter what i do it seems to stay around 20ppm of nitrate.
I have 18ppm in my sps tank and they show great color so it doesn't always have to be. I think it depends on light and alkalinity as well.. I have mine pretty high.
What's the best skimmer for a nano tank?
BulkReefSupplyCom 20 high
Devin Maldonado dude there are the same the bigger the better
At 4:10, there is a little fan of some sort grabbing for food out of the water column. What is that? Some sort or worm or crab? I have one living in my frog spawn and it seems to irritate it.
Barnacle.
Is it safe or should I remove it?
Up to you. If it's bothering the coral and you don't want it to, stab it a few times with a paperclip, or superglue its hole closed.
Thanks
*effect
Damn Bruh, good job
how do I have high nitrates but low phosphates
BulkReefSupplyCom I have watch many times its a fantastic video may I add, I am running nopox for the last 4 month and my nitrates won't come down from 100ppm I'm starting to worry the tank is 13 months old
Candelz Reef Nitrates going higher drives the phosphates lower. Also, you could have 0 nitrates and your phosphates will get to a point where they won't go any lower until you raise your nitrates. The best balance I have found is 5 nitrate and .02 phosphate. I've seen corals lose color at 0 nitrate and .08 phosphate so it's good to stay in the 2-5 range with nitrates. I stopped using a Biopellet Reactor because it was too efficient at removing nitrates.
We dont experience browning but bleaching.
Effect should be affect, no? :)
Its like watching ryan without the hair 😂. Great job though ... but there is only 1 god of reefing
And thats Randy Holmes Farley 😊
remember to breathe lol
Sanjays tank has 50+ppm nitrates and he has epic growth and coloration.
oh wait. what happen to this guy?
RT left BRS a few years ago to pursue another opportunity.
This guy is just as bad as other guy. He sounds like he is asking questions not telling
high nutrient tank will kill SPS coral not just brown them... lmao.
how much consideration and relocating corals should I be concerned with to find the best placement verses placing them and allowing them to adjust to their setting?