Cycling.. Nitrite and nitrate safe?

[JimleNguyen]

I’m going to settle this tomorrow. I’ve been reading a lot about how nitrites are neutral in reefing and cycling. I’m currently day 9 in a fishless cycle using dr Tim’s. At day 7 I was about 1ppm in ammonia. Yesterday I was at .25 and today I’m at 0. Nitrites and nitrates are through the roof. Followed dr Tim’s instructions to the tee.

Tomorrow I’m going to confirm ammonia is at 0. More than likely nitrite and nitrate are still through the roof. I got 5 cardinals from my old tank that I’ve had for 3 years. I’ll even throw in a 20% water change to sweeten the deal.

Sink or swim?

 

[Rjukan]

I would wait for the nitrite to drop then you're good, it's been a while but I'm pretty sure nitrite doesn't take as long to drop as ammonia did. Pretty sure some would say you're cycled already bc of the bottle bacteria you used, but I would still wait for the nitrites to drop before adding those fish.

 

[brandon429]

Why skip disease preps and instantly infect your tank with disease that kills the fish in a few months? You can see clearly in the disease forum skipping disease preps works out badly

Your issue isn't the cycle that's done

 

[Spare time]

Nitrite can make nitrate tests read abnormally high. Nitrite also takes longer than ammonia to clear and is harmless in saltwater.

 

[EricR]

I know that elevated nitrite levels are considered safe in saltwater (within reason) but, just out of curiosity, what exactly does "through the roof" mean in terms of your test results?