Nitrates went down on its own?

[Armani]

This is my tank it has some what of a large sand bed it’s about 2in deep, live rock and dry rock. I dosed 2ppm 2 days ago and now it seems it’s all zero out..is that possible?

 

[rob safron]

Brand new setup?? How old?

 

[Armani]

Brand new setup?? How old?

Brand new it’s 3 weeks

 

[rob safron]

So I assume you had high ammonia and nitrates at some point and has now dropped on it’s own? You say you doses 2ppm, now sure what that is? If your using live rock it sure is possible that you just had a quick short cycle but it also could be testing error or was just a mini cycle with another one coming. Are you putting in any food, to see if nutrients stay low.

 

[Brew12]

This is my tank it has some what of a large sand bed it’s about 2in deep, live rock and dry rock. I dosed 2ppm 2 days ago and now it seems it’s all zero out..is that possible?

You probably had a small amount of nitrites. Nitrate tests work by breaking nitrates down into nitrites first. Any amount of nitrites will appear as a larger amount of nitrates.

 

[madweazl]

Since you have live rock in the tank, yes, it's possible. I'm guessing the large piece on the left is what is being referred to as "live rock?"

 

[Brew12]

FYI... 2 ppm ammonia should have topped out at 5.4ppm nitrite which should have left 7.2ppm nitrate in the tank. Our hobby level test kits aren't too accurate. I would read your nitrate sample as close to 5ppm which I would call very reasonable if you think you started with 2ppm ammonia.

 

[Armani]

FYI... 2 ppm ammonia should have topped out at 5.4ppm nitrite which should have left 7.2ppm nitrate in the tank. Our hobby level test kits aren't too accurate. I would read your nitrate sample as close to 5ppm which I would call very reasonable if you think you started with 2ppm ammonia.

So yes I had spikes of ammonia 2ppm nitrites were 5ppm and nitrates were 80+.. it lasted about 2 days. And now this is what it is (in the picture) I’m just curious if nitrates can go down on its own or did I not dose enough ammonia, but I did have spikes.

 

[Armani]

You probably had a small amount of nitrites. Nitrate tests work by breaking nitrates down into nitrites first. Any amount of nitrites will appear as a larger amount of nitrates.

I had 5ppm for 2 days

 

[Armani]

Since you have live rock in the tank, yes, it's possible. I'm guessing the large piece on the left is what is being referred to as "live rock?"

Yes

 

[Brew12]

I had 5ppm for 2 days

A small amount of nitrites will cause a nitrate test to read very high. I think that is what you saw. When the nitrites came down, it made it look like nitrates were also dropping. In reality, nitrates were increasing. It's a trick nitrate test kits play. Testing for nitrates is pretty much useless unless you have no nitrites.

 

[Armani]

A small amount of nitrites will cause a nitrate test to read very high. I think that is what you saw. When the nitrites came down, it made it look like nitrates were also dropping. In reality, nitrates were increasing. It's a trick nitrate test kits play. Testing for nitrates is pretty much useless unless you have no nitrites.

So in this case tho I have no nitrites but my nitrates went down as well, I tested a few hours later to make sure my nitrates stayed low and they seemed to stay at 0 (yellow) possibly 5. Should they be higher then 5 at the end of the cycle?

 

[madweazl]

Not with live rock in the system.

 

[Brew12]

So in this case tho I have no nitrites but my nitrates went down as well, I tested a few hours later to make sure my nitrates stayed low and they seemed to stay at 0 (yellow) possibly 5. Should they be higher then 5 at the end of the cycle?

With 2ppm of ammonia you should have ended up with around 7ppm of nitrate. I would say that the color you have could reasonably be interpreted as around 7ppm.

 

[Armani]

With 2ppm of ammonia you should have ended up with around 7ppm of nitrate. I would say that the color you have could reasonably be interpreted as around 7ppm.

So should I do a water change? Or keep dosing until my ammonia goes away in 24hrs? At this point ammonia and nitrite goes away in about 2 days also nitrates get pretty low after nitrites drop. It’s very confusing I read large sand beds can remove nitrates along with live rock and circulation I think that’s what’s happening here

 

[madweazl]

So should I do a water change? Or keep dosing until my ammonia goes away in 24hrs? At this point ammonia and nitrite goes away in about 2 days also nitrates get pretty low after nitrites drop. It’s very confusing I read large sand beds can remove nitrates along with live rock and circulation I think that’s what’s happening here

No reason to do a water change; go ahead and dose the ammonia again though (I suspect it will look just like your last results though). With "seasoned" live rock, the nitrogen cycle is already complete (this may or may not be the case for you).

 

[rob safron]

Yep. The key now is can your system handle increased nutrients. Try throwing in a very small amount of food and see what happens over 24-48 hours. If it stays down your probably ready to start adding a fish.

 

[Brew12]

So should I do a water change? Or keep dosing until my ammonia goes away in 24hrs? At this point ammonia and nitrite goes away in about 2 days also nitrates get pretty low after nitrites drop. It’s very confusing I read large sand beds can remove nitrates along with live rock and circulation I think that’s what’s happening here

It's not a large sand bed, but a deep sand bed that will reduce nutrients. The bacteria that do de-nitrification live in low oxygen areas of the tank. Typically this is under 3"+ or sand or deep within live rock. While you may have some of this going on, it normally only works well in older tanks that have something specifically established to support these bacteria. In most other tanks it happens at such a low rate it won't be noticeable.

 

[Jesterrace]

The nitrates should break down some at the end of the cycle but they will always be there in some quantity. Personally I strongly recommend getting rid of the API kit and going with Red Sea, Salifert, etc. The Nitrate readings with API are pretty inaccurate by comparison.