High nitrates

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Glad to see you found where nitrates are coming from. Hopefully this just needs to wrap up.

 

[redseaenroute]

So, it seems the nitrites are the problem—they’ve gone through the roof. Let’s wait for the nitrite levels to decrease.

Glad you at least have visibility on the cause! I don't post often, but as soon as I saw your post and started seeing recommendations for dosing and everything else...at only 30 days in... I figured we should probably step back a bit and check the basics! Good luck. You seem to have a grasp on this. Always love to see people succeed in this hobby!

 

[AKReefing]

No, the high nitrate levels were present before the fish were added, when there was only water in the tank. The problem is not related to food.

At a certain point, it’s actually better to have fish because they help strengthen the nitrogen cycle. Also, it's important to note that the cycle is continuous, so defining it as "fully cycled" can be a bit misleading.

I don't think there’s a need to introduce a refugium or algae scrubber for a tank of this size with only three fish at this time. It’s something to consider for the future, but not a priority right now.

What other ammonia sources did you have in the tank? Did you put live rock or live sand in the tank before the fish?

 

[AKReefing]

Glad to see you found where nitrates are coming from. Hopefully this just needs to wrap up.

Nitrates always come from nitrites, which come from ammonia.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Nitrates always come from nitrites, which come from ammonia.

Correct. But this is probably from finishing up bacteria establishment and balancing from livestock since ammonia I believe is zero. Now nitrites can be monitored to see if lowered and see what nitrates do along with this. No changes or things need to be done at this point. More of a wait and see.

 

[AKReefing]

Is it true that your tank is only a month old? Really?

You say your nitrite levels are off the chart. Your tank is far from being cycled if you have detectable levels of nitrite. There's an ammonia source in your tank, I'm guessing either live sand or live rock that are essentially cycling from scratch. They both come with organics that died before they made it to your tank.

Nitrosomonas sp. bacteria oxidize ammonia into nitrite. Nitrobacter sp. bacteria oxidize nitrite into nitrate. The face that you still have high nitrite means your tank has NOT finished cycling. I'd be concerned that you may still have detectable levels of ammonia.

 

[AKReefing]

Correct. But this is probably from finishing up bacteria establishment and balancing from livestock since ammonia I believe is zero. Now nitrites can be monitored to see if lowered and see what nitrates do along with this. No changes or things need to be done at this point. More of a wait and see.

Agree, but if it's true that the tank is a month old, it should have nothing in the tank. Nitrites are still toxic (not as much as ammonia). Livestock is way too expensive to risk it all on a quick cycle that's not done.

For example, my new tank has been dark cycling for 2 1/2 months. I added a ton of pods, bacteria, live mud, and some phyto for the pods and let the biome get established. Lights came on yesterday. I'm not adding a single fish or coral until the uglies have come and gone. I'll still have a few issues, but with patience and a lot of planning, it should be fine.

 

[paragrouper]

One other thing: I'm not sure if my skimmer is tuned correctly.

Are you getting nasty grungy stuff collecting in your skimmer cup? Is it filling up with lightly colored water? Is it dry?

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Agree, but if it's true that the tank is a month old, it should have nothing in the tank. Nitrites are still toxic (not as much as ammonia). My new tank has been dark cycling for 2 1/1 months. I added a ton of pods, bacteria, live mud, and some phyto for the pods. Lights came on yesterday. I'm not adding a single fish or coral until the uglies have come and gone.

Nitrites are not toxic in what we test for fish and such. Look up @Randy Holmes-Farley in the search with nitrites.

My tank started day 1 with an elegance coral and nothing else in tank lol. I added another coral and then shrimp and such. Never tested. But I also do 100 percent water changes weekly.

There is many ways to cycle. Just check out some of his responses. Wish I had link to the thread he created on this.

 

[AKReefing]

So, it seems the nitrites are the problem—they’ve gone through the roof. Let’s wait for the nitrite levels to decrease.

Nitrates aren't the problem. They're the symptom.

 

[Nonya]

Nitrites are not toxic in what we test for fish and such. Look up @Randy Holmes-Farley in the search with nitrites.

My tank started day 1 with an elegance coral and nothing else in tank lol. I added another coral and then shrimp and such. Never tested. But I also do 100 percent water changes weekly.

There is many ways to cycle. Just check out some of his responses. Wish I had link to the thread he created on this.

Referring to your tiny tank with 100% weekly water changes has no relevance to this discussion. Pointing to Randy's nitrite posts is not relevant to the main point of the thread.

The issue is high nitrates. It's slowly coming out that the OP also has high nitrites ("through the roof"), which are the sole source of nitrates in a tank (unless you're dosing nitrates). Someone else said it's a 30 day old tank, and fish were added a week ago. No mention of ammonia levels yet. I suspect they're at a detectable level.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Referring to your tiny tank with 100% weekly water changes has no relevance to this discussion. Pointing to Randy's nitrite posts is not relevant to the main point of the thread.

The issue is high nitrates. It's slowly coming out that the OP also has high nitrites, which are the sole source of nitrates in a tank (unless you're dosing nitrates). Someone else said it's a 30 day old tank, and fish were added a week ago. No mention of ammonia levels yet. I suspect they're at a detectable level.

And that's why I had in separate paragraph and sharing with AKReefing since they were talking about theirs tank setup and what they were doing. I was not connecting my tank to Randy's post. Not sure how you got got that....but not sure how you making this assumption helps out either or has to do with how my water changes effect OPs high nitrites and nitrates in second paragraph lol.

But yes, already agreed with AKreefing that the nitrites are causing the nitrates. In fact the Nitrites can cause a false high reading of nitrates. The question now is this left over from establishing bacteria or is there a concentrated ammonia source. My thought is this is still establishing the bacteria. Especially 3 fish and feeding. Either way nitrites will go down and are harmless. If nitrites stay high then there is an issue if something else.

Testing ammonia isn't a bad idea to see if any. Curious what that would be.

 

[Nonya]

And that's why I had in separate paragraph and sharing with AKReefing since they were talking about theirs tank setup and what they were doing. I was not connecting my tank to Randy's post. Not sure how you got got that....but not sure how you making this assumption helps out either or has to do with how my water changes effect OPs high nitrites and nitrates in second paragraph lol.

I lumped the two together. Not trying to imply a link.

 

[BFResende]

And that's why I had in separate paragraph and sharing with AKReefing since they were talking about theirs tank setup and what they were doing. I was not connecting my tank to Randy's post. Not sure how you got got that....but not sure how you making this assumption helps out either or has to do with how my water changes effect OPs high nitrites and nitrates in second paragraph lol.

But yes, already agreed with AKreefing that the nitrites are causing the nitrates. In fact the Nitrites can cause a false high reading of nitrates. The question now is this left over from establishing bacteria or is there a concentrated ammonia source. My thought is this is still establishing the bacteria. Especially 3 fish and feeding. Either way nitrites will go down and are harmless. If nitrites stay high then there is an issue if something else.

Testing ammonia isn't a bad idea to see if any. Curious what that would be.

Zero ammonia.

Right now, let's sit back, wait, and see. My guess is that the nitrite levels will decrease eventually.

 

[BFResende]

Agree, but if it's true that the tank is a month old, it should have nothing in the tank. Nitrites are still toxic (not as much as ammonia). Livestock is way too expensive to risk it all on a quick cycle that's not done.

For example, my new tank has been dark cycling for 2 1/2 months. I added a ton of pods, bacteria, live mud, and some phyto for the pods and let the biome get established. Lights came on yesterday. I'm not adding a single fish or coral until the uglies have come and gone. I'll still have a few issues, but with patience and a lot of planning, it should be fine.

One and a half months!

I’ve been adding bacteria since day one to help remove ammonia.

I already mentioned that, in my opinion, fish are important for strengthening the cycle.

So, not adding fish at this point is just a matter of preference and approach.

Some people believe it's absolutely necessary to add fish from day one.

 

[Nonya]

One and a half months!

I’ve been adding bacteria since day one to help remove ammonia.

I already mentioned that, in my opinion, fish are important for strengthening the cycle.

So, not adding fish at this point is just a matter of preference and approach.

Some people believe it's absolutely necessary to add fish from day one.

Two weeks makes no difference whatsoever. I don't see why you seem to be acting like a total newbie and stand behind your apparent lack of informed methods. I've been doing this for >30 years. I've learned what doesn't work, because the Internet didn't exist yet and people believed propaganda like putting fish in on day one, the magic of quick cycling, not measuring parameters from day one, and being surprised when things go wrong, etc. I'm still learning as the hobby is exposed to new knowledge and methods.

"Some people" would be uninformed, and are the most likely group to experience major problems. "Some people" watch the clowns on "Tanked" and believe that a tank can be "instantly cycled". No experienced person would ever believe that.

The fact that you're keeping your parameters to yourself (ammonia, bacteria, etc.) until somebody challenges you gives me the impression you're hiding something. How long have you actually been in the hobby? How many crashes have you had?

 

[AKReefing]

Two weeks makes no difference whatsoever. I don't see why you seem to be acting like a total newbie and stand behind your apparent lack of informed methods. I've been doing this for >30 years. I've learned what doesn't work, because the Internet didn't exist yet and people believed propaganda like putting fish in on day one, the magic of quick cycling, not measuring parameters from day one, and being surprised when things go wrong, etc.

"Some people" would be uninformed, and are the most likely group to experience major problems. "Some people" watch the clowns on "Tanked" and believe that a tank can be "instantly cycled". No experienced person would ever believe that.

The fact that you're keeping your parameters to yourself (ammonia, bacteria, etc.) until somebody challenges you gives me the impression you're hiding something. How long have you actually been in the hobby? How many crashes have you had?

Well said. Tough love.

 

[BFResende]

The fact that you're keeping your parameters to yourself (ammonia, bacteria, etc.) until somebody challenges you gives me the impression you're hiding something. How long have you actually been in the hobby? How many crashes have you had?

What?! Have you read the entire discussion?

Who said that two weeks make any difference? Me? I only mentioned that the tank is 1 1/2 months old. Do you not want the exact information about the tank to make an informed judgment?

I've been in the hobby since last July... That’s why I’m asking for help—because I’m a newbie.

I’m sorry if I haven’t shared the information at the right time or didn’t know exactly what to share.

It feels like you’re more interested in criticizing than helping. If you’re not here to offer assistance, then thanks anyway, and have a nice day.

 

[Dburr1014]

If you are still testing for nitrites, don't bother testing for nitrates. The test will be false and show really high.

Post in thread 'Cycling an Aquarium' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/post-12767154

 

[BFResende]

Thank you very much; that was exactly the point we reached during this discussion. I bought the nitrite test kit yesterday, and my nitrite levels are indeed very high. Now, I just need to wait...