mystery no2

Weyou · Dec 23, 2020

i have NO2 in my water. My tank is 9 months running with only one fish without corals.
Before we discuss my tank story, my feeling about the source of the no2 in my aquarium is the UV sterilizer i added to my tank about 2 months ago. i also go to my local fish to consulting this problem, and he told me that it's not recommended to add a UV sterilizer because the bacteria is not fully established in a new tank. i got an 18-watt UV sterilizer with 500 liters per hour powerhead running 24/7, and my tank has 0.1-0.05 no2 in its after a water change. i got only one bicolor blenny fish in a 24x24x24 cube with 20x20x20 sump. i will tell you all the story about my tank, but I want to know immediately about that issue before.

Dan_P · Dec 23, 2020

Weyou said:
i have NO2 in my water. My tank is 9 months running with only one fish without corals.
Before we discuss my tank story, my feeling about the source of the no2 in my aquarium is the UV sterilizer i added to my tank about 2 months ago. i also go to my local fish to consulting this problem, and he told me that it's not recommended to add a UV sterilizer because the bacteria is not fully established in a new tank. i got an 18-watt UV sterilizer with 500 liters per hour powerhead running 24/7, and my tank has 0.1-0.05 no2 in its after a water change. i got only one bicolor blenny fish in a 24x24x24 cube with 20x20x20 sump. i will tell you all the story about my tank, but I want to know immediately about that issue before.

I believe @brandon429 will say this is unlikely.

How are you measuring the NO2?

Weyou · Dec 23, 2020

a new tropic marine test kit

Caseyoidae · Dec 23, 2020

That’s probably not the problem.

brandon429 · Dec 24, 2020

Dan I can’t wait for digital nitrite measures to come about commonplace by 2025

then we can get some insight into cycle chart compliance consistency/inconsistency for this param like we get to see with digital nh3 measures nowadays

the lfs means well in their offers, but using UV -the same start date we add the bacteria- would not stop, slow or stall a cycle much less adding one after a cycle. UV is helpful but not a total sterilizer at all. Skimming won’t kill the newly-added bac. Running a filter sock won’t catch the bac, and prevent it from spreading (all common cycle rumors and even some directions say not to do this, i guess am guilty of cherry-picking portions of directions lol)

Source for the seemingly crazy claim: I haven’t seen any variation a human can do to stop wet bacteria from doing their thing per the directions on the bottle bacteria. I have never seen an incomplete cycle among ten thousand home reef tank cycles.
We have seen test misreads all day long (two or more kits on same sample give different reads) so something here is skewing truth and it’s likely just sensitive over reporting from the kit.

every rule that’s supposed to stop or slow a cycle simply never does when we track out nh3 control using digital tests like seneye or special ways of using api to indicate motion down of a formerly higher ammonia level...whether it’s too much ammonia added at the start, or trace amounts of ammonia vs the firm rule 2 ppm, all these tanks still cycle. I advise not to own a nitrite test kit at all, not enough reliability for the param and going off Randy’s posts that it’s chemically neutral in reefing we feel ok with that abandon

but ill be curious to see any situation where Hanna digital wants to give a reading

Dan_P · Dec 24, 2020

One more idea about low level nitrite

The importance of nitrite measurements in a reef aquarium

There have been a lot of threads about nitrification and cycling lately. IMO - the most important measurements tool you have in order to indicate if your cycle is done or not is the nitrite level. It is a rather stable tool and will give stable results with few interferences. One of the myths...

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