Nitrite & Nitrate

[jbonez_]

Nitrites are reading 1.0ppm and Nitrates 20ppm, would a larger water change help lower or should I do something different? I had the same readings the past two weeks.

 

[1ocean]

is the tank only 2 weeks old?

 

[ryanjohn1]

Nitrites typically don’t matter. How old is tank. Nitrate at 20 isn’t too bad either

 

[jbonez_]

is the tank only 2 weeks old?

No, this is the 2 weeks of having fish in it, it's close to two months old.

 

[old salt reefer]

OK for the first six weeks the tank did not have fish in it did you seed/add bottled bacteria? If so when did you add the bacteria and after you added them did you " feed" them ?
Just trying to figure out when your cycle started. As others said those numbers are not bad.

 

[PotatoPig]

Do you have corals in there?

Neither of those numbers are bad, especially for a fish only system.

 

[jbonez_]

Do you have corals in there?

Neither of those numbers are bad, especially for a fish only system.

No corals, fish only right now.

 

[jbonez_]

OK for the first six weeks the tank did not have fish in it did you seed/add bottled bacteria? If so when did you add the bacteria and after you added them did you " feed" them ?
Just trying to figure out when your cycle started. As others said those numbers are not bad.

Yes, I added Dr Tim's while dosing with his ammonia, after that for a week I was getting 0ppm for Nitrites, Nitrates and Ammonia, then I added a pinch of fish food and went to a testless 10 day cycle, after the 10 days I tested and had 0 ammonia, 5ppm nitrites and 80pmm nitrates, did a near 100% water change.

 

[PotatoPig]

No corals, fish only right now.

The nitrates probably will stay pretty high (this is OK for fish in saltwater) until you get stuff in there that’s doing photosynthesis.

The bacteria that convert nitrates to N2 tend to do so under anaerobic conditions and are fairly slow at it even when such conditions are present.

In many cases the most effective way to remove these from the system is via algae or corals that’ll absorb them, though unless you have lights set up that’ll get photosynthesis going this won’t happen.

 

[jbonez_]

The nitrates probably will stay pretty high (this is OK for fish in saltwater) until you get stuff in there that’s doing photosynthesis.

The bacteria that convert nitrates to N2 tend to do so under anaerobic conditions and are fairly slow at it even when such conditions are present.

In many cases the most effective way to remove these from the system is via algae or corals that’ll absorb them, though unless you have lights set up that’ll get photosynthesis going this won’t happen.

I do have a light set up and I have been running it, algae growth is starting.

So all in all, these levels are ok for now since no corals? But when I want to start putting corals in is when I need to lower these levels? I plan only to do softies and some LPS.

 

[PotatoPig]

I do have a light set up and I have been running it, algae growth is starting.

So all in all, these levels are ok for now since no corals? But when I want to start putting corals in is when I need to lower these levels? I plan only to do softies and some LPS.

TBH - they’re probably ok for corals as is, especially soft corals. How many fish do you have in there?

Once the algae and corals take off they’ll consume these nutrients, possibly very quickly, with a light bioload you could end up having to go out of your way to keep nutrients up even.

 

[jbonez_]

TBH - they’re probably ok for corals as is, especially soft corals. How many fish do you have in there?

Once the algae and corals take off they’ll consume these nutrients, possibly very quickly, with a light bioload you could end up having to go out of your way to keep nutrients up even.

Just two clowns as of right now, then in another week or two a YWG and pistol shrimp.

 

[PotatoPig]

Just two clowns as of right now, then in another week or two a YWG and pistol shrimp.

What size tank do you have? Do you have a sump/skimmer/refugium?

 

[brandon429]

is it true that if you ceased testing for nitrite and nitrate and had to go solely off results of looking at your tank, the testless cycle worked?


at what point did you want to change from testless cycling, which just worked you can see, into test-cycling using the number one misreading test kits in reefing / legit curious about that detail

we had discussed fish disease prep needs, the importance of reading and choosing a disease plan before adding fish


know fallow and quarantine very well.

this thread here is the stage of reefing your tank is at:

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

all new reef tanks having just completed a cycle should read that post before they buy fish

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The nitrate is not as high as you report due to interference from the nitrite, if it is accurate. These numbers do not suggest any action is required.