sera guide - Marine aquariums

Crystal clear, biologically healthy aquarium water 5151 Nitrate is considerably less toxic than ammonia and nitrite. Never- theless, concentrations above 20 mg/l (ppm) harm sensitive corals. It also supports the growth of unwant- ed thread and slime algae. Macro algae such as Caulerpa withdraw nitrate from the water and considerably reduce pollution. You can check the nitrate level with the sera nitrate- Test. Bacterial nitrate breakdown can only take place in zones low in oxygen, where the bac- teria take oxygen from nitrate. This process is called anaerobic (without air) or anoxic (without oxygen). Harmless nitrogen gas es- capes into the atmosphere as the final prod- uct. The biological breakdown of nitrate takes place in the bottom ground, but mainly in filter media such as sera siporax. Nitrate uptake by macro algae Nitrate