Nitrate and Dying Coral

I would like to know if anyone can tell me if a dying coral, or dead coral will cause Nitrates to go up. Does it create a higher Bio-load? My Acro started dying last week, and I tested Nitrates at 0. I left it in the tank to see if it would recover...It didnt, and now Nitrates are at 20. I just removed it. Anyone??

 

Bump....anyone???

 

I would say yes death= Ammonia = Nitrite = Nitrate

It seems like an acro would be minimal but my guess would be that anything that dies will put a strain on the bio-load.

How big was tha acro?

 

Size of a baseball I would guess.

 

Anything alive that dies will cause ammonia and eventually nitrates as mentioned above. You tested nitrates and should have tested for ammonia as that’s the first stage in the break down process. A water change and fresh carbon will bring you back were you should – I would have done exactly as you did….always give the coral a fighting chance unless it’s a large coral in a small tank and you see doom looming. Sorry to hear it died – good luck !

 

technically yes. But a coral in an established tank... it is border line irrelevant. They are something like 99.9% water.

your tank is big enough, and your CuC large enough, and your live rock is in good quantity... you should not see any measurable bump. If you are, I would blame something else...

 

I agree, it will be negligible compared to the amount you feed weekly, probably even daily.

 

I agree...20ppm is a pretty big jump in a week with no other changes. I did a water change yesterday also. I am not missing anyone. I have seen Nitrates fluctuate over the time I have had this tank. They always come back down. I was just curious.

 

This is an easy one. Coral died (dying)....Nitrates went up....there in lies your answer.