High nitrite during cycle, should I do a water change?

[ReeferPolly]

Hi All Reef pros!

been cycling for 14 days with Dr Tim’s fishless process.

tank is a waterbox 100.3 (270L)
Real rock
Live sand
my skimmer and clarisea was turned off for the first 48hrs

Running at
19 salinity
28c water temp
No lights
PH is around 7.6-7.8

My Amonia went up to 3.0ppm and came down (Amonia and nitrite results attached)

My concern is the nitrite went up to a steady 5.0ppm and has stayed there, my API test kit can’t read higher so don’t know if it is any higher.

On the dr Tim’s website it says to do a 30-50% water change if nitrite levels are too high but is ambiguous.

please let me know your thoughts? I’m a newbie. Happy to be patient but want to make sure I’m doing the right thing...

Thank you in advanced!

 

[Reef.]

I would wait, you'll find once it starts to drop its fairly fast to drop to zero.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I honestly don’t think a water change will do much change. I recently cycled my tank the same way along with Dr Tims ammonia. My nitrites stayed high from day 7/8- day 21. I think as long as ammonia drops in about a day you should be ok. I think the water change is for when BOTH nitrite and ammonia are at 5ppm or higher.

 

[ReeferPolly]

I honestly don’t think a water change will do much change. I recently cycled my tank the same way along with Dr Tims ammonia. My nitrites stayed high from day 7/8- day 21. I think as long as ammonia drops in about a day you should be ok. I think the water change is for when BOTH nitrite and ammonia are at 5ppm or higher.

Thanks, That’s what I thought but Dr Tim said in the YouTube that if either it high to do a water change. I’m thinking of waiting a few more days at this stage.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

Thanks, That’s what I thought but Dr Tim said in the YouTube that if either it high to do a water change. I’m thinking of waiting a few more days at this stage.

That’s what I did. Too many of the Dr Tims cycle threads end in others saying to use Fritz or Microbacter7 anyways.. I did a 10g water change on my 20g (15g actual) after week 3, then added a couple of fish and some zoas.
Cheers

 

[ReeferPolly]

That’s what I did. Too many of the Dr Tims cycle threads end in others saying to use Fritz or Microbacter7 anyways.. I did a 10g water change on my 20g (15g actual) after week 3, then added a couple of fish and some zoas.
Cheers

So did your nitrites drop after the water change?

 

[SchrutesReefs]

They did, but I waited until the dropped naturally before I did the water change.

 

[brandon429]

this cycle is fully done. Do a water change, can begin. You meet three or four markers from updated cycling rules, the old rules dont matter much.

markers
-meets ammonia line from any cycling chart, they go down and stay by day fourteen on every chart.

-ammonia has dropped, no zero required, tan conversion required on current param report.

-has rocks and sand surface area for attachment
- this bottle bac allows instant skip cycling, we’ve tested on seneye, you’ve waited fourteen times longer than most do.
-how to unstick any stuck cycle thread is a hundred tanks exactly like yours. There’s no way yours will fail to follow suit as example no 101

the cycle is done. By condensing large proof threads into that summary above am saving a long read and instead relaying the patterns we have on file.

 

[ReeferPolly]

this cycle is fully done. Do a water change, can begin. You meet three or four markers from updated cycling rules, the old rules dont matter much.

markers
-meets ammonia line from any cycling chart, they go down and stay by day fourteen on every chart.

-ammonia has dropped, no zero required, tan conversion required on current param report.

-has rocks and sand surface area for attachment
- this bottle bac allows instant skip cycling, we’ve tested on seneye, you’ve waited fourteen times longer than most do.
-how to unstick any stuck cycle thread is a hundred tanks exactly like yours. There’s no way yours will fail to follow suit as example no 101

the cycle is done.

Ok thanks but won’t fish get poisoned with that nitrite level?

 

[SchrutesReefs]

Most would say not at the levels that we experience in our tanks. Your API test kit maxes out at a minuscule percentage of what would be toxic. Again, this is according to most. I am not Randy, but Im sure others will chime in on the topic.

 

[tc3driver]

Some of the stuff I have read recently around nitrite is that it has little effect on salt water animals. This is due to the receptors for the chemicals are normally stuffed with the salt in salt water (overly simplified, there is a ton of information around here on it, search is your friend). If you choose to buy into this or not is completely up to you and your own research.

Either way, I would suggest waiting. During the nitrogen cycle you are trying to build 2 main, and one optional type of bacteria

1. Bacteria that consume Ammonia (not Ammonium) and generally expel Nitrites
2. Bacteria that consume Nitrites and expels nitrates
3. (optional but beneficial) Building Bacteria (anaerobic bacteria, meaning that the need to be in a free oxygen free environment) that eat nitrates and expel nitrogen gas (as bubbles)

The third optional one on that list is a bit controversial, the danger is getting too much flow or churning something to introduce free oxygen to the environment of those bacteria, killing them and setting off an Ammonia bomb in your tank. Again let your own research guide you through what you want to do, and how you wish to do it.

You are currently at building bacteria #2, Why you want to monitor nitrite is to confirm that your ammonia consuming bacteria are doing their job, even then it is generally only present for a few days, drops to 0 and you never really test for it again.

I am on my first month of a salt tank, Been doing fresh tanks for ~36 years, and am happy to share any knowledge I have on the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi All Reef pros!

been cycling for 14 days with Dr Tim’s fishless process.

tank is a waterbox 100.3 (270L)
Real rock
Live sand
my skimmer and clarisea was turned off for the first 48hrs

Running at
19 salinity
28c water temp
No lights
PH is around 7.6-7.8

My Amonia went up to 3.0ppm and came down (Amonia and nitrite results attached)

My concern is the nitrite went up to a steady 5.0ppm and has stayed there, my API test kit can’t read higher so don’t know if it is any higher.

On the dr Tim’s website it says to do a 30-50% water change if nitrite levels are too high but is ambiguous.

please let me know your thoughts? I’m a newbie. Happy to be patient but want to make sure I’m doing the right thing...

Thank you in advanced!

Hola.

The way to read something like this when it hits maximum is to do a serial dilution, making dilutions of your water until you can actually read something. And then you can track your nitrite.

Others are right, nitrite is non-toxic to marine fish, at least short term, even at levels we consider high. 20ppm, etc. is still not enough to cause short term damage. Here, have a look at this: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php. It's by Randy, the guy whose our chemistry forum is named after.

I personally would suggest tracking nitrite, and seeing if there is a decrease (stop dosing ammonia for now).

Given that nitrite is 'non-toxic', you potentially can just base your decision on whether a tank is cycled or not based on ammonia.

I personally prefer to ensure both ammonia and nitrite are efficiently oxidized by nitrifiers though, before moving on.

 

[ReeferPolly]

Hola.

The way to read something like this when it hits maximum is to do a serial dilution, making dilutions of your water until you can actually read something. And then you can track your nitrite.

Others are right, nitrite is non-toxic to marine fish, at least short term, even at levels we consider high. 20ppm, etc. is still not enough to cause short term damage. Here, have a look at this: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php. It's by Randy, the guy whose our chemistry forum is named after.

I personally would suggest tracking nitrite, and seeing if there is a decrease (stop dosing ammonia for now).

Given that nitrite is 'non-toxic', you potentially can just base your decision on whether a tank is cycled or not based on ammonia.

I personally prefer to ensure both ammonia and nitrite are efficiently oxidized by nitrifiers though, before moving on.

Smart way to think about it, cheers

 

[Auquanut]

I gotta agree with @Azedenkae. From what I've read and the Macna video with Dr. Tim, the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite reproduce much faster than the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate. Probably why you're seeing a plateau of nitrites. I would expect to see that decrease very soon as the nitrate producing bacteria start to catch up.

As others have said, it's probably safe to add fish before your tank finds that equilibrium, but I personally would let it ride a while longer. Just my way of doing things.

Also, I wouldn't bother testing for nitrates until your nitrites are near zero. From what I understand, elevated nitrites can result in wildly inaccurate nitrate tests.

 

[Dytrix]

if just recently gone through my cycle, i didnt have any rock in tank just water and sand and my nitrites, nitrates were really high.. well high for what i thought it should be (ammonia 1-0.5ppm nitrite 5ppm and nitrate 40-80ppm) made me quite nervous.. i got some dry rock and checked my levels before putting the rock in and was still high, 3-4 days after i put the rock in all levels are optimal and sitting at those levels.

i dont know if that was just coincidence but thats what my newly found experience has shown me

 

[ReeferPolly]

Thanks all for the wise words.
So I did a 30% water change last night and a small dose of Ammonium early this morning to 1ppm.
In the 5 hrs since the dose the Ammonium has come down to 0.5ppm which confirms things are looking good.
Going to wait 3-4 days before introducing a pair of clowns.

ill test for Nitrites but feel a lot more comfortable with it being present.

In the meantime I’m slowing bring up the salinity to 35.

 

[Dunc]

Hi All Reef pros!

been cycling for 14 days with Dr Tim’s fishless process.

tank is a waterbox 100.3 (270L)
Real rock
Live sand
my skimmer and clarisea was turned off for the first 48hrs

Running at
19 salinity
28c water temp
No lights
PH is around 7.6-7.8

My Amonia went up to 3.0ppm and came down (Amonia and nitrite results attached)

My concern is the nitrite went up to a steady 5.0ppm and has stayed there, my API test kit can’t read higher so don’t know if it is any higher.

On the dr Tim’s website it says to do a 30-50% water change if nitrite levels are too high but is ambiguous.

please let me know your thoughts? I’m a newbie. Happy to be patient but want to make sure I’m doing the right thing...

Thank you in advanced!

I just got down cycling my tank with Dr. Tim’s. Took 28 days , after which I changed 25% of the water and added my 2 clown fish from the QT tank. All is good.