NuvoNinja13
New Member
Hello all! I have recently made my first saltwater aquarium purchase and have some general questions about the initial setup and cycling process. My Dad is a long time hobbyist and during the setup of my new tank I used water from his system to fill my new tank.
I am on day 8 of having my aquarium up and running. I purchased live rock and live sand with the aquarium and as stated I used water from my dad's system per the advice of an employee at our local marine store. I have not at this point introduced any livestock to my new aquarium.
Today I tested my water and the results are as follows:
I have been told that it is normal for nitrate levels to spike during the cycling phase, but is a nitrate level this high common? Will it decrease and stabilize with time? I actually discussed this with another hobbyist and he went as far as to say that I was misinformed about using water from a pre-established system and that I should do a complete water change (which I did to a certain extent; about 95%) and started from scratch. After I did the water change the nitrate levels did decrease, but were still very high yet readable on my test kit's scale. I hope that I am not trying to rush my tank through the cycling process by not fully giving the bacteria a chance to thrive, but I also wonder what i can do to quicken the process of denitrification.
If anyone has ANY advice or can answer any of my questions I would greatly appreciate it!! I have been looking for a good forum to join as I embark on my new hobby and saltwaterfish.com seemed like a winner!
Thanks so much!
Aaron
I am on day 8 of having my aquarium up and running. I purchased live rock and live sand with the aquarium and as stated I used water from my dad's system per the advice of an employee at our local marine store. I have not at this point introduced any livestock to my new aquarium.
Today I tested my water and the results are as follows:
- Ammonia levels around 0.5 ppm
- Nitrite seemed to be around 1.0 ppm
- This is what alarmed me: My nitrate readings were off the scale. Way over the test kit's chart maximum of 160 ppm.
I have been told that it is normal for nitrate levels to spike during the cycling phase, but is a nitrate level this high common? Will it decrease and stabilize with time? I actually discussed this with another hobbyist and he went as far as to say that I was misinformed about using water from a pre-established system and that I should do a complete water change (which I did to a certain extent; about 95%) and started from scratch. After I did the water change the nitrate levels did decrease, but were still very high yet readable on my test kit's scale. I hope that I am not trying to rush my tank through the cycling process by not fully giving the bacteria a chance to thrive, but I also wonder what i can do to quicken the process of denitrification.
If anyone has ANY advice or can answer any of my questions I would greatly appreciate it!! I have been looking for a good forum to join as I embark on my new hobby and saltwaterfish.com seemed like a winner!
Thanks so much!
Aaron
