HIGH NITRITES!!!

[Franci1017]

I'm currently cycling my Red Sea XL 425 with 60 pounds of caribsea arch rocks, 80 pounds caribsea sand special grade with 2kg Maxspect nano-tech bio spheres in the sump.. Fishless cycle with dr tim's one and only using Dr tims ammonium chloride solution. i'm on day 19 of cycle and nitrites not dropping, zero ammonia since day 8. On day 14, I did 25% water change two time but nitrite didn't dropped. what should i do?

 

[ZX6Reef]

Have you tried a different test type? API is not known for their accuracy.

 

[mdb_talon]

I dont worry about nitrite at all in SW aquarium. As long as my ammonia goes to zero and stays there and nitrates go up i call it good. Need very high nitrite levels in SW to cause issues for fish. If i were you i would do water change and throw a fish or two in there.

 

[Franci1017]

Have you tried a different test type? API is not known for their accuracy.

Salifert nitrite .50 to 1.00

 

[CMMorgan]

Nitrite isn't sky high.... and you do have nitrate...
Just keep doing the water changes. The cycle is working because those nitrites are becoming nitrates.

 

[Franci1017]

Five days ago, I added ammonia to the tank and converted to zero ammonia in 24 hrs, but nitrites has been the same since day 8.. I have done two 25% water change but nitrites has not drop.

 

[mdb_talon]

Five days ago, I added ammonia to the tank and converted to zero ammonia in 24 hrs, but nitrites has been the same since day 8.. I have done two 25% water change but nitrites has not drop.

One of the reasons I dont even test nitrite. It not that important in SW (unless you are talking about levels many times greater than what you are reading) and just caused me stress for zero practical reason.

 

[brian414899]

I'm currently cycling my Red Sea XL 425 with 60 pounds of caribsea arch rocks, 80 pounds caribsea sand special grade with 2kg Maxspect nano-tech bio spheres in the sump.. Fishless cycle with dr tim's one and only using Dr tims ammonium chloride solution. i'm on day 19 of cycle and nitrites not dropping, zero ammonia since day 8. On day 14, I did 25% water change two time but nitrite didn't dropped. what should i do?

You should do nothing, just let the tank keep running. Your in the process of growing the second set of bacteria. If I did anything I’d add something to up the pH in the tank yours looked lower then 8.4. Doing nothing right now is good to

 

[mickeysreef <*))))<]

 

[Jekyl]

Do a 80% water change and add fish.

 

[Jekyl]

The only thing that matters is your tanks ability to convert ammonia. That has been taken care of. Cycle is good. You never have to test nitrite again.

 

[Garf]

This is a few weeks old now, so it’s probably resolved.

 

[Azedenkae]

I'm currently cycling my Red Sea XL 425 with 60 pounds of caribsea arch rocks, 80 pounds caribsea sand special grade with 2kg Maxspect nano-tech bio spheres in the sump.. Fishless cycle with dr tim's one and only using Dr tims ammonium chloride solution. i'm on day 19 of cycle and nitrites not dropping, zero ammonia since day 8. On day 14, I did 25% water change two time but nitrite didn't dropped. what should i do?

If nitrite is reading at 5ppm (sorry, I am bad at telling colors so can't really see what nitrite readings look like according to the photo, so I can't verify myself), then what you can do is a serial dilution to determine what the true nitrite reading is. That way, you would be able to track any changes to nitrite even if it is above 5ppm, because right now even if it is decreasing you'd still read it as 5ppm so it won't seem like it is moving.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It concerns me when I hear persons saying dont worry about nitrites. first thing I personally would do is have your water retested , but at a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits which are Less than reliable and offer frequent false readings.
Nitrites start with waste. Without waste, nitrites wouldn’t exist. Common sources of waste found in aquariums include:

• Uneaten fish food
• Fish poop
• Decaying plants
• Dirty filters

While waste leads to the appearance of nitrites, it is not the defining cause. As waste breaks down, it gives off ammonia.
A bacteria called nitrosomonas breaks down the ammonia into nitrites. A second bacteria, called nitrobacter, then feeds on the nitrites and produces nitrates. So, nitrites wouldn’t exist without ammonia. The process of ammonia being converted into nitrites by bacteria is called nitrification.
The acceptable level of nitrites in your tank is… Zero.
Nitrites can be pretty bad news. So, in a stocked tank, the level should read 0 ppm (parts per million). The bacteria in an established tank should exist in high enough numbers to break down nitrites the moment they are produced – leading to a zero reading when tested. If your nitrite levels are higher than zero, you need to find the cause of the problem.
Once nitrite levels exceed zero, they are going to be absorbed by your fish – they have no choice in the matter. When the nitrites reach the fish’s blood stream, they stop the blood from carrying oxygen. The more nitrites that are taken in by your fish, the less oxygen the blood can carry. Oxygen is kind of a big deal because your fish need it to live.
So, I am sure you know what happens if your fish take in too many nitrites, right?
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t matter how oxygenated your aquarium is, your fish can still suffocate.
An aquarium with all the bubbles and surface movement in the world isn’t going to help your fish if they cannot draw oxygen out of the water. This entire process is referred to as nitrite poisoning.

 

[mdb_talon]

It concerns me when I hear persons saying dont worry about nitrites. first thing I personally would do is have your water retested , but at a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits which are Less than reliable and offer frequent false readings.
Nitrites start with waste. Without waste, nitrites wouldn’t exist. Common sources of waste found in aquariums include:

• Uneaten fish food
• Fish poop
• Decaying plants
• Dirty filters

While waste leads to the appearance of nitrites, it is not the defining cause. As waste breaks down, it gives off ammonia.
A bacteria called nitrosomonas breaks down the ammonia into nitrites. A second bacteria, called nitrobacter, then feeds on the nitrites and produces nitrates. So, nitrites wouldn’t exist without ammonia. The process of ammonia being converted into nitrites by bacteria is called nitrification.
The acceptable level of nitrites in your tank is… Zero.
Nitrites can be pretty bad news. So, in a stocked tank, the level should read 0 ppm (parts per million). The bacteria in an established tank should exist in high enough numbers to break down nitrites the moment they are produced – leading to a zero reading when tested. If your nitrite levels are higher than zero, you need to find the cause of the problem.
Once nitrite levels exceed zero, they are going to be absorbed by your fish – they have no choice in the matter. When the nitrites reach the fish’s blood stream, they stop the blood from carrying oxygen. The more nitrites that are taken in by your fish, the less oxygen the blood can carry. Oxygen is kind of a big deal because your fish need it to live.
So, I am sure you know what happens if your fish take in too many nitrites, right?
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t matter how oxygenated your aquarium is, your fish can still suffocate.
An aquarium with all the bubbles and surface movement in the world isn’t going to help your fish if they cannot draw oxygen out of the water. This entire process is referred to as nitrite poisoning.

The only studies i have seen of saltwater fish have shown no apparent stress to fish at levels we would generally see in our aquarium and require levels many times higher than what is going to be found in our aquariums short of extreme events to cause and significant distress/fatality.

I am one of those who say dont worry about nitrites. At one time i thought more along the lines of you (coming from freshwater where nitrite is a big deal). Eventually after constantly seeing small nitrite spikes even on established tanks did some research and realized at least for me I dont care in the slightest what nitrite is and never tested since.

 

[Azedenkae]

It concerns me when I hear persons saying dont worry about nitrites. first thing I personally would do is have your water retested , but at a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits which are Less than reliable and offer frequent false readings.
Nitrites start with waste. Without waste, nitrites wouldn’t exist. Common sources of waste found in aquariums include:

• Uneaten fish food
• Fish poop
• Decaying plants
• Dirty filters

While waste leads to the appearance of nitrites, it is not the defining cause. As waste breaks down, it gives off ammonia.
A bacteria called nitrosomonas breaks down the ammonia into nitrites. A second bacteria, called nitrobacter, then feeds on the nitrites and produces nitrates. So, nitrites wouldn’t exist without ammonia. The process of ammonia being converted into nitrites by bacteria is called nitrification.
The acceptable level of nitrites in your tank is… Zero.
Nitrites can be pretty bad news. So, in a stocked tank, the level should read 0 ppm (parts per million). The bacteria in an established tank should exist in high enough numbers to break down nitrites the moment they are produced – leading to a zero reading when tested. If your nitrite levels are higher than zero, you need to find the cause of the problem.
Once nitrite levels exceed zero, they are going to be absorbed by your fish – they have no choice in the matter. When the nitrites reach the fish’s blood stream, they stop the blood from carrying oxygen. The more nitrites that are taken in by your fish, the less oxygen the blood can carry. Oxygen is kind of a big deal because your fish need it to live.
So, I am sure you know what happens if your fish take in too many nitrites, right?
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t matter how oxygenated your aquarium is, your fish can still suffocate.
An aquarium with all the bubbles and surface movement in the world isn’t going to help your fish if they cannot draw oxygen out of the water. This entire process is referred to as nitrite poisoning.

So the reason why many people say not to worry about nitrite, is because in saltwater systems, chloride do outcompete nitrite for the same uptake mechanisms, and thus it takes a lot of nitrite to cause (short-term) toxicity to marine fish: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php

Like @mdb_talon, I was also heavily invested in the freshwater side of the hobby before moving into the saltwater side of the hobby, so it seems really, really, REALLY wrong at first. But it is good that we have knowledgeable people like @Randy Holmes-Farley who have published articles like above.

I dug into the literature myself and also found evidence that nitrite has to be at high levels to be immediately toxic to marine fish.

With that said, I am also one of those that would much rather nitrite be 0 and continue to be 0 before adding live stock. Although the idea is that nitrite oxidizers would establish fast enough that nitrite would stop climbing at a point still non-toxic to marine fish, and then decline until it is consistently 0, I would much rather not take the chance. It does add some time to the cycle to ensure nitrifiers can oxidize both ammonia and nitrite that would be produced daily prior to adding any live stock, but eh. Not that much longer generally.

 

[brandon429]

the problem is, we're paying for a nonstandard start date.

if we want zero nitrite, don't pay for ammonia control and then factor the start on a neutral param like nitrite.

simply wait sixty days with water alone and you're cycled, that'll get you nitrite control and no allowed start date.

by following the directions for # of days on the bottle of bac, that allows a safe initial bioload control, regardless of nitrite. that's a fair way to bank considering the tested ability of today's bottle bac.

 

[reefGoat]

It concerns me when I hear persons saying dont worry about nitrites. first thing I personally would do is have your water retested , but at a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits which are Less than reliable and offer frequent false readings.
Nitrites start with waste. Without waste, nitrites wouldn’t exist. Common sources of waste found in aquariums include:

• Uneaten fish food
• Fish poop
• Decaying plants
• Dirty filters

While waste leads to the appearance of nitrites, it is not the defining cause. As waste breaks down, it gives off ammonia.
A bacteria called nitrosomonas breaks down the ammonia into nitrites. A second bacteria, called nitrobacter, then feeds on the nitrites and produces nitrates. So, nitrites wouldn’t exist without ammonia. The process of ammonia being converted into nitrites by bacteria is called nitrification.
The acceptable level of nitrites in your tank is… Zero.
Nitrites can be pretty bad news. So, in a stocked tank, the level should read 0 ppm (parts per million). The bacteria in an established tank should exist in high enough numbers to break down nitrites the moment they are produced – leading to a zero reading when tested. If your nitrite levels are higher than zero, you need to find the cause of the problem.
Once nitrite levels exceed zero, they are going to be absorbed by your fish – they have no choice in the matter. When the nitrites reach the fish’s blood stream, they stop the blood from carrying oxygen. The more nitrites that are taken in by your fish, the less oxygen the blood can carry. Oxygen is kind of a big deal because your fish need it to live.
So, I am sure you know what happens if your fish take in too many nitrites, right?
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t matter how oxygenated your aquarium is, your fish can still suffocate.
An aquarium with all the bubbles and surface movement in the world isn’t going to help your fish if they cannot draw oxygen out of the water. This entire process is referred to as nitrite poisoning.

Salt is the treatment for nitrite poisoning. The chloride prevents the build up of methemoglobin.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The acceptable level of nitrites in your tank is… Zero.

An aquarium with all the bubbles and surface movement in the world isn’t going to help your fish if they cannot draw oxygen out of the water. This entire process is referred to as nitrite poisoning.

As folks have noted...I think you are incorrectly extrapolating the concerns about nitrite from a freshwater tank, where what you say is true, to a marine system where what you say is completely incorrect.

Nitrite is not toxic in marine systems at levels encountered by reefers..

Nitrite and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

As folks have noted...I think you are incorrectly extrapolating the concerns about nitrite from a freshwater tank, where what you say is true, to a marine system where what you say is completely incorrect.

Nitrite is not toxic in marine systems at levels encountered by reefers..

Nitrite and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

This was from Julian Sprung at a seminar 2 years ago
It was my thought that nitrite insignificant opposed to ammonia and nitrate and I took notes UNLESS he was comparing to FW
I can’t stand going to a seminar or movie and everyone around you is talking