How can some reef tanks allow 10-30 on nitates while mine receed >.5?

[mysterybox]

How can some reef tanks allow 10-30 on nitates while mine receed >.5?

When my nitrates climb above .5 I get no growth whatsoever on my acros. When my trates are between .5 & 1, and my phosphates are above .024, the tips of my acros receed. Why can some acro's thrive in some tanks that have nitrates between 10-30? What's the deal?

The nitrates are tested with Salifert & Phosphates with Merk. Attached is a pdf file of an independent online service that verified my results when I was having trouble. Well, it said that my file was too big so I'll copy some of it.

Where are the chemists?

Thanks,
Ralph



Nitrate (NO3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.050 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 25 mg/l
Tested: 0.822 mg/l
Your nitrate values are within acceptable parameters. Be sure to maintain
correct stocking and feeding levels, as well as a regular water change
schedule. Nitrate is not toxic in and of itself, but a rising level is indicative of
deteriorating water conditions, and any level above 5.0mg/L in reef
aquariums is a reason for concern.


Phosphate (PO4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.250 mg/l
Tested: 0.061 mg/l
Your phosphate levels are within acceptable parameters. We recommend
continuing the current maintenance and water change schedule. The use of a
phosphate absorbing resin is recommended to keep phosphate levels below
0.05 mg/l.


Silica (Sio2-3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.040 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.500 mg/l
Tested: 1.901 mg/l
Your silicate level is too high. We recommend that you use a deionization
resin for your make-up/top-off water. You may also use a commercially
available phosphate absorber, as these will also remove some silicate. Silicate
is required by many types of sponges for growth/reproduction, but will also
encourage brown diatom algae growth. Any level above 0.3 mg/l may cause a
diatom bloom in the aquarium.

Potassium (K)
Natural Seawater Value: 390 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/l
Tested: 422 mg/l
Your potassium level is within the acceptable range. We recommend
continuing with your current water change and chemical additive schedule.
Potassium is an important constituent of seawater, being found in almost the
same concentration as calcium. Potassium is important for neurological
functions in fishes, as well as being a critical plant nutrient required by
zooxanthellae and macro algae.

Calcium (Ca)
Natural Seawater Value: 400 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/l
Tested: 428 mg/l
Your calcium levels are within acceptable parameters. We recommend that
you continue with your current schedule of calcium additions. Calcium is
critical to healthy coral skeletal growth, and many other biological processes.
Maintenance of calcium levels that are at or near seawater values is an
important factor in having a healthy reef aquarium.

Molybdenum (Mo)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.100 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 0.080 to 0.120 mg/l
Tested: 0.202 mg/l
Your molybdenum level is too high. We recommend a partial water change to
reduce this level. You should also suspend the use of any additives containing
molybdenum. Molybdenum is important for the biological processes of
bacteria, and may be of some benefit to corals as well. High levels of
molybdenum are known to encourage blooms of slime algae or cyanobacteria.

Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/l
Tested: 9.02 mg/l
Your strontium levels are at within acceptable values. We recommend
continuing with your current additive schedules. Strontium is important to
coral growth, as they incorporate strontium ions into their skeletal mass,
particularly SPS corals. It is also important to coralline algae growth.

Magnesium (Mg)
Natural Seawater Value: 1280 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 1100 to 1400 mg/l
Tested: 1267 mg/l
Your values are within the acceptable range. We recommend staying with
your current water change and additive schedule. Magnesium is a very
important part of the water buffering system, and is incorporated into coral
skeletons. It is also critical to any photosynthetic processes.

Iodine (I¯)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.060 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 0.030 to 0.090 mg/l
Tested: 0.059 mg/l
Your iodine levels are within acceptable parameters. We would recommend
continuing with the current water change and additive schedule. Please be
advised that many Iodine supplements are difficult to dose accurately, and
“above normal” readings are easy to achieve with common iodine additives.

Copper (Cu++)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/l
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.030 mg/l
Tested: 0.027 mg/l
Your copper levels are within the acceptable range. We recommend
continuing with your current water change schedule, being careful to use only
RO/DI water for make-up/top-off water. Use of activated carbon can also help
keep this level in check. Copper is fatal to marine invertebrates at levels as
low as 0.05 mg/l for many species.

Alkalinity (dkh)
Natural Seawater Value: 2.5 meq/l
Acceptable Range: 2.5 to 5.0 meq/l
Tested: 4.366 meq/l
Your alkalinity is within acceptable values. We recommend continuing with
your current water change and buffering schedule. Maintaining an appropriate
alkalinity is crucial to maintaining a healthy aquarium. A fluctuating alkalinity
will lead to serious problems in maintaining an appropriate pH, as well as
problems keeping calcium and magnesium levels within required parameters.
Thank you for using
AquariumWaterTesting.com

[rcypert]

Its not nitrates causing the recession. BTW what causes all those silicates in your tank? Are you dosing it or something? Im interested because I want more silicates and am considering dosing. I would look for other factors for the sps recession. If your nitrates aren't zero you possibly have other problems in the system that aren't apparent. But as you said other reefers can stand up to 5-10 even 25 nitrates without problem because NO3 is just not harmful in low concentrations.

[mysterybox]

no idea why silicates are high. Most likely my RO water is not as good as they say it is! Would phosphates alone at that level cause tip recession?