New tank , nitrite and nitrate issues

[Fernandop9995]

Hey guys! Pleasure to meet you guys.
So I’ve purchased a 20 gallon salt water tank and I’ve gotten dry rock and sand .
I also added bacteria with mr Tim’s ammonia .
I’ve been monitoring the tank and my nitrate and nitrite are really high , while everything else remains low.
Is there a reason why? Should I let it continue to cycle or do a water change?

 

[Bpones]

How long has the tank been up for?
If you’re still seeing nitrite I’d let it roll. That being said, the API kits are generally not seen as very reliable. I’d maybe take some water to your LSF and see if they have a different kit they could test your water with.

 

[Fernandop9995]

Yeah that’s probably what I’ll do tomorrow.
Tank has been running for 3 days

 

[crazyfishmom]

Hey guys! Pleasure to meet you guys.
So I’ve purchased a 20 gallon salt water tank and I’ve gotten dry rock and sand .
I also added bacteria with mr Tim’s ammonia .
I’ve been monitoring the tank and my nitrate and nitrite are really high , while everything else remains low.
Is there a reason why? Should I let it continue to cycle or do a water change?

So to me it looks like your pH is fairly low and your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are high. How much ammonia did you dose to start the cycle? It looks like the cycle is ongoing but I agree that those values are really high. Is it possible there’s some sort of testing error?

 

[eliaslikesfish]

3 days is a very short period of time, wait 2 or 3 more weeks and check again

 

[Bpones]

Oh, yeah, you’ll need a few weeks minimum if your cycling dry rock. You’re doing fine.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

If the tank has only been up for three days, it's probably just still establishing the bacterial colonies needed to convert Nitrite to Nitrate, so that's probably why you still have high Nitrite (Nitrite isn't toxic in saltwater like freshwater, so it's not really a concern even if it is high).

That said, Nitrite interferes with Nitrate tests, causing them to read unrealistically high - so that's likely why you supposedly have high Nitrates.

I'd say to just let it sit a few more days and track the Nitrite if you're concerned; that said, as long as the tank is processing Ammonia quickly (the hobby standard seems to be converting 2ppm Ammonia to 0/as close to 0 as the test kit can read within 24 hours), you can consider it cycled - just don't trust your Nitrate readings until your Nitrite has dropped.

 

[Fernandop9995]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

If the tank has only been up for three days, it's probably just still establishing the bacterial colonies needed to convert Nitrite to Nitrate, so that's probably why you still have high Nitrite (Nitrite isn't toxic in saltwater like freshwater, so it's not really a concern even if it is high).

That said, Nitrite interferes with Nitrate tests, causing them to read unrealistically high - so that's likely why you supposedly have high Nitrates.

I'd say to just let it sit a few more days and track the Nitrite if you're concerned; that said, as long as the tank is processing Ammonia quickly (the hobby standard seems to be converting 2ppm Ammonia to 0/as close to 0 as the test kit can read within 24 hours), you can consider it cycled - just don't trust your Nitrate readings until your Nitrite has dropped.

I did mention I have a clownfish in there , does that affect it ? Someone mentioned to do a water change because of the clownfisb

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys! Pleasure to meet you guys.
So I’ve purchased a 20 gallon salt water tank and I’ve gotten dry rock and sand .
I also added bacteria with mr Tim’s ammonia .
I’ve been monitoring the tank and my nitrate and nitrite are really high , while everything else remains low.
Is there a reason why? Should I let it continue to cycle or do a water change?

This is a kit I have no confidence in and often produces false results. For best cycling, you want to add ammonia chloride allowing ammonia to go up, trhen add your denitrifying bacteria. You will know bacteria is working when your ammonia rises then falls and holds a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and also nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled.
Being that you are using API kits , I would suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS and see what numbers they come up with and to compare with yours then you will know where your readings are at.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I did mention I have a clownfish in there , does that affect it ? Someone mentioned to do a water change because of the clownfisb

A water change wouldn't hurt (it might not be necessary, but it's not a bad idea either).