Nitrites not going away

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

So I am just about 4 weeks into having my tank setup and cycling. The tank is a 75 gallon tank with a trigger systems 34 sump. Whole system is roughly 90 gallons. I used roughly 80lbs of reef-cleaners dry rock, and 40lbs or caribsea Hawaiian black sand.

I started the cycle with bio-spira and dosing 2ppm ammonia. I have also been adding microbacter7 per instructions on bottle. I hit the point about a week ago where if I dosed the ammonia in the morning by the time I got home from work it would be back to zero.

The issue I'm having is nitrites initially measured around 2ppm after about a week and half, but for the past week or so they have stayed between 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm. I have not stopped dosing the microbacter7 or dosing ammonia, but am wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

Also I am using salifert test kits for amonia, nitrite and nitrate.

 

[Mikey Mane The Flare]

Any fish?

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Any fish?

No fish yet. Waiting to get nitrites to drop.

 

[Flippers4pups]

No fish at this point, please. Add more ammonia/fish food to rot, not bacteria at this point. Too much bacteria and not enough food for them is why your cycle is slowing down.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

No fish at this point, please. Add more ammonia/fish food to rot, not bacteria at this point. Too much bacteria and not enough food for them is why your cycle is slowing down.

Yea I have no plans to add fish untill this is sorted out. Should I increase ammonia dose or decrease the microbacter7?

 

[Mikey Mane The Flare]

I would stop adding stuff and use live rock and a few fish your tank like 10. Blue chr Or clowns. Get a real cycle going

 

[Mikey Mane The Flare]

And weekly water changes. Is the key to all tanks

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yea I have no plans to add fish untill this is sorted out. Should I increase ammonia dose or decrease the microbacter7?

Increase the ammonia dose for a few days then stop. Don't add any more microbacter7.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I would stop adding stuff and use live rock and a few fish your tank like 10. Blue chr Or clowns. Get a real cycle going

"Fish" cycling was discontinued decades ago as deemed inhumane. Damage to the gills from the ammonia is permanent and can lead to death or shortened life span.

 

[Mikey Mane The Flare]

"Fish" cycling was discontinued decades ago as deemed inhumane. Damage to the gills from the ammonia is permanent and can lead to death or shortened life span.

Oh. Worked great for me.... all fish were fine

 

[Flippers4pups]

Oh. Worked great for me.... all fish were fine

Yep, some bad LFS still tell customers to cycle with fish!

http://www.melevsreef.com/cycle

https://www.marinedepot.com/cycle-an-aquarium-ap.html

 

[rcpalmer1]

Back twenty years ago the only thing we did to cycle a tank was throw some damsels in. In a couple weeks the tank would brown out. Once that went away the tank was cycled. Now they say it is cruel to the fish and it hurts their feelings. I had reef tanks for over 10 years before I ever got my first test kit.

Trying to be more sensitive the last two tanks I have setup I cycled without fish. I never heard anyone doing it like this but it has worked for me. I make sure there is some bacteria in the tank. A bag or two of live sand works. I make sure I have plenty of room for the bacteria to grow. I have been using Seacheam Matrix. My 55 gallon has 7 liters in the sump. I then dump a double shot of Vodka in the tank. In 24 hours you get a bacteria bloom so dense you can't see through the tank. Keep the filter socks clean and in about a week all the pours will be filled to the max with bacteria and the excess will filter out. Throw some corals in and a few fish and you are good to go.

I do test more than I did. In my 55 gallon I have over 60 corals, fish, crabs, snails, and an anemone. I feed a lot and don't clean my socks as often as I would like. I got a new Hanna phosphate tester. I thought it was broke. Both of my tanks were showing "0.0". I went by World Wide Coals and had them test my water. They said it was "0". That is good enough for me.

IMO add fish slow so bacteria can grow to match bio load. Have plenty of place for bacteria to grow. Try not to chase numbers. Don't add more animals than your filter system can handle. Enjoy it more than working on it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No fish at this point, please. Add more ammonia/fish food to rot, not bacteria at this point. Too much bacteria and not enough food for them is why your cycle is slowing down.

How would that work? If he has nitrite, there's plenty of nitrite for the bacteria that consume nitrite. ???

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Increase the ammonia dose for a few days then stop. Don't add any more microbacter7.

Will do. Thanks for the info!

 

[Flippers4pups]

The thought was if he's dosing that much bacteria, that there's not enough fuel to sustain them, thus the stall in the cycle. This is why i said up the ammonia to sustain/ feed the excess bacteria. This is an assumption without knowing how much the OP used. This is comple conjecture on my part, as I've never dealt with a stall in cycling.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Back twenty years ago the only thing we did to cycle a tank was throw some damsels in. In a couple weeks the tank would brown out. Once that went away the tank was cycled. Now they say it is cruel to the fish and it hurts their feelings. I had reef tanks for over 10 years before I ever got my first test kit.

Trying to be more sensitive the last two tanks I have setup I cycled without fish. I never heard anyone doing it like this but it has worked for me. I make sure there is some bacteria in the tank. A bag or two of live sand works. I make sure I have plenty of room for the bacteria to grow. I have been using Seacheam Matrix. My 55 gallon has 7 liters in the sump. I then dump a double shot of Vodka in the tank. In 24 hours you get a bacteria bloom so dense you can't see through the tank. Keep the filter socks clean and in about a week all the pours will be filled to the max with bacteria and the excess will filter out. Throw some corals in and a few fish and you are good to go.

I do test more than I did. In my 55 gallon I have over 60 corals, fish, crabs, snails, and an anemone. I feed a lot and don't clean my socks as often as I would like. I got a new Hanna phosphate tester. I thought it was broke. Both of my tanks were showing "0.0". I went by World Wide Coals and had them test my water. They said it was "0". That is good enough for me.

IMO add fish slow so bacteria can grow to match bio load. Have plenty of place for bacteria to grow. Try not to chase numbers. Don't add more animals than your filter system can handle. Enjoy it more than working on it.

Thanks for the info. I plan on add fish good and slow. I'm having my first son possibly today, so I know I won't have much time for chasing numbers or rushing anything. I'm planning two clowns once the tank is cycled and add more fish at some point a couple months down the road. Planning to let the tank mature for quite a while before I get to adding corals.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Congrats on your son!

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Congrats on your son!

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The thought was if he's dosing that much bacteria, that there's not enough fuel to sustain them, thus the stall in the cycle. This is why i said up the ammonia to sustain/ feed the excess bacteria. This is an assumption without knowing how much the OP used. This is comple conjecture on my part, as I've never dealt with a stall in cycling.

I'm confused. If nitrite is really still high (which he said), how can lack of "fuel" be an issue to getting it down, since nitrite is the "fuel" for these bacteria?

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

I'm confused. If nitrite is really still high (which he said), how can lack of "fuel" be an issue to getting it down, since nitrite is the "fuel" for these bacteria?

So would the assumption be I just don't have a big enough or strong enough bacteria population yet? Maybe just taking it's sweet time.