Can you be 'nutrient rich' AND 'low nitrate'?

F

Fourtwenny

New member
Hi,

I'm still relatively (6 mos) new to reefing, but I think my 56gal column with hob CPR skimmer/refugium is doing pretty well. Heh... aside from a lesson learned with ich recently (the hard way).

Anyway, when researching livestock, I keep seeing requirements for 'nutrient rich' along with 'low nitrates'. Wouldn't a nutrient 'rich' tank be inherently high in nitrates? Algae blooms in high nitrates, critters eat the algae, critters eat critters (and critter poop), critters poop, and so on...

I guess I also would like to have 'mature' defined in regards to reefs. Is it coraline alone? Or is it this 'high nutrient,low nitrate' nirvana?

Thanks for your time,you guys run a great community.
 
The short answer is yes. If your filtration system (ie, skimmer, fuge, LR, sand bed, etc.) is properly cycled and maintained, that's exactly what your system needs to be able to maintain high nutrients, (ie, rotifers, pods, phyto in normal levels) as well as have low nitrates. I have a mixed reef with 3 fish and only use chemi-pure, skimmer, and fuge, and I have 0 of everything, including nitrates.

Don't get caught up with the GFO, and do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY from bio-pellets. At best they're far VERY experienced reefers, at worst its just a bad idea and difficult to maintain. and GFO is really only a last-ditch effort and something I've found is really just a quick fix but not an answer to a problem of high phosphates. Whether your RODI unit needs new filters or resin, or bad salt, or overfeeding, there's always a natural solution to the problem.

Even "low nutrient systems" are nutrient rich in the sense that any nutrients in the water column are adsorbed into tissues, whether its algae, coral, fish, or other tissues. And this is exactly what you want. A diverse system of filtration to naturally (obviously with some help from carbon/skimmers/etc.) get rid of toxins/waste.

And maturity is really just stability in this hobby. As long as you can maintain levels and healthy growth, your tank is mature. It's really just about keeping things stable and not having levels bounce around because you threw some food in there or because a snail died.
 
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