Nitrites won’t come down.

[collinnelson9]

Hello I’m going on week 5 cycling my new tank with the brightwell xlm starter kit. My last 2 tanks cycled like a dream with the Red Sea kit. I probably overdosed the ammonia but it came down to 0 within 6 days and my nitrites have been reading max levels on api test strips(5) and red seas test kit(1) ever since. I have completed 2 50% water changes in that time to see if I lower them enough the bacteria will be able to grab hold and convert them to nitrates. Any tips on what I should do next since I’ve never been in this situation before. Thanks

 

[Jekyl]

Hello I’m going on week 5 cycling my new tank with the brightwell xlm starter kit. My last 2 tanks cycled like a dream with the Red Sea kit. I probably overdosed the ammonia but it came down to 0 within 6 days and my nitrites have been reading max levels on api test strips(5) and red seas test kit(1) ever since. I have completed 2 50% water changes in that time to see if I lower them enough the bacteria will be able to grab hold and convert them to nitrates. Any tips on what I should do next since I’ve never been in this situation before. Thanks

Using the API tests is probably fooling you. What's your nitrate?

 

[uhupong]

It's not an emergency since nitrate won't harm lot of things, it just make tank grow algea fast (not talking coral since this is new tank).

This is natural process for end of cycle and water change will help.

 

[collinnelson9]

Using the API tests is probably fooling you. What's your nitrate?

I’m reading right around 20 ppm as of today it maxed my test last weekend but with the water change it has gone down and I dose 2 mL a day of Red Sea nopox to my 40 gallon. I’m running 450 calc 1400 mag 11.0 dkH and my pH is 7.9 if that changes anything which it shouldn’t imo.

 

[collinnelson9]

It's not an emergency since nitrate won't harm lot of things, it just make tank grow algea fast (not talking coral since this is new tank).

This is natural process for end of cycle and water change will help.

Yes it is not an emergency but when I went to put a different prefix in it said didn’t exist the only 1 that popped up was emergency and I couldn’t post without it sorry for the confusion.

 

[Mikedawg]

Personally I wouldn't use NoPox on a new, cycling tank, preferring water changes, etc. in order to better establish "natural" processes for nutrient control.
Good luck

 

[TokenReefer]

We talkin Nitrite or Nitrate? Cuz you said Nitrite in your post but now your talking Nitrate? Nitrite IS HARMFUL far as I know...

 

[collinnelson9]

We talkin Nitrite or Nitrate? Cuz you said Nitrite in your post but now your talking Nitrate? Nitrite IS HARMFUL far as I know...

We talkin Nitrite or Nitrate? Cuz you said Nitrite in your post but now your talking Nitrate? Nitrite IS HARMFUL far as I know...

I was asked what my nitrates were. So we can see that my nitrites are at least turning in nitrates. But yes my nitrites have been frozen for almost 4 weeks now

 

[TokenReefer]

If the bacteria is not keeping up maybe add more bacteria. If 100 nitrite is present but only 50 is being converted by bacteria because that's all the bacteria that's present, that leaves 50 leftover; add more bacteria to consume that 50... in simplified terms

 

[CoralB]

I’m reading right around 20 ppm as of today it maxed my test last weekend but with the water change it has gone down and I dose 2 mL a day of Red Sea nopox to my 40 gallon. I’m running 450 calc 1400 mag 11.0 dkH and my pH is 7.9 if that changes anything which it shouldn’t imo.

Nitrate at 20 ppm is ok ,nitrite should be zero , ammonia should be zero

 

[Yates273]

Nitrites are not deadly in a reef tank nitrates at 20 ppm is not bad. What you don’t want in your tank is ammonia. Make sure you can convert ammonia into nitrites in a 24 hour period. Good thing is if you have nitrates then you have the bacteria that converts nitrites which usually takes the longest but again nitrites will not harm you fish in a saltwater tank ammonia will
Dr Randy Holmes Farley explains it here

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php

 

[moz71]

Wow slow down and let it do its thing it sounds like it is properly running its course. No problem no emergency. As previous poster nitrites aren’t harmful in saltwater. That’s freshwater. And you have same nitrates as my 4 year old tank. I wouldn’t be chasing with nopox right now.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Suggest you watch Bulk Reef Supply videos on Youtube on just about every subject in reefing.

 

[mdb_talon]

Agree with others nitrite is not a big concern in saltwater from a dangerous perspective.

However as I understand it on an API test if you have high nitrites it will actually make your nitrate test to incorrectly show very high so it seems odd to me that your nitrates are reasonable yet you say the nitrites read at max levels. This would make me question the validity of the nitrite test

 

[collinnelson9]

Agree with others nitrite is not a big concern in saltwater from a dangerous perspective.

However as I understand it on an API test if you have high nitrites it will actually make your nitrate test to incorrectly show very high so it seems odd to me that your nitrates are reasonable yet you say the nitrites read at max levels. This would make me question the validity of the nitrite test

I use both api test strips and I have have every test kit Red Sea has to offer I use the strips if I’m feeling lazy but if I want more accurate readings I use my Red Sea test kits. I just don’t want to rush it if I don’t have proper colonies of beneficial bacteria. Ammonia dropped pretty quick but it’s been 4 weeks for the nitrites so I was just wondering if I did something wrong and if so how could I correct it. The brightwell cycle kit says 6-9 days to fully cycle I didn’t believe that I thought it would take right around 2 weeks but now we’re on week 5 lol

 

[brandon429]

Colin you need to know this, from updated cycling science threads, it will remove your headache:

-there are no reef cycles at day 30 who can't carry a load of fish, they all can, yours too

nitrite isn't going to burn them

old rules said nitrite matters
people who sell bottle bac say nitrite matters (which is where forum posters got that idea)


it does not matter in reef tank cycling, it matters in nitrate testing/so wait longer to test for nitrates.

by day 60 any cycling chart shows all params are fine, so wait to test for nitrates till then, nitrites won't be interfering.

you don't need to manage nitrates in the first several months anyway for any reef tank, cease testing for them a while and your nitrite presence won't matter whether it's + or -


adding fish without following fish disease preps is the real risk, there's an entire forum dedicated to preventing that with detailed steps, the matter is this serious.

if you've had a stack of rocks stewing in water this long after feed plus bottle bac, what you need to do is cease wondering about the cycle and only study fish disease preps. you don't have an ammonia issue at this many days, and covered above only ammonia matters in reef tank cycling.

given this many days, nobody fails to control ammonia, that's where you stand. fish disease preps are the sole issue here, yet to be mentioned.

post a pic of your tank let's see how much rock cooked up this last month.

 

[92Miata]

I’m reading right around 20 ppm as of today it maxed my test last weekend but with the water change it has gone down and I dose 2 mL a day of Red Sea nopox to my 40 gallon. I’m running 450 calc 1400 mag 11.0 dkH and my pH is 7.9 if that changes anything which it shouldn’t imo.

If you're getting a maxed out nitrite test and 20 ppm on a nitrate test, one of the tests is very wrong. Nitrite interferes in nitrate testing and gives false highs.

Neither are toxic to fish in salt water though. Do a water change, add some fish.

 

[collinnelson9]

Colin you need to know this, from updated cycling science threads, it will remove your headache:

-there are no reef cycles at day 30 who can't carry a load of fish, they all can, yours too

nitrite isn't going to burn them

old rules said nitrite matters
people who sell bottle bac say nitrite matters (which is where forum posters got that idea)


it does not matter in reef tank cycling, it matters in nitrate testing/so wait longer to test for nitrates.

by day 60 any cycling chart shows all params are fine, so wait to test for nitrates till then, nitrites won't be interfering.

you don't need to manage nitrates in the first several months anyway for any reef tank, cease testing for them a while and your nitrite presence won't matter whether it's + or -


adding fish without following fish disease preps is the real risk, there's an entire forum dedicated to preventing that with detailed steps, the matter is this serious.

if you've had a stack of rocks stewing in water this long after feed plus bottle bac, what you need to do is cease wondering about the cycle and only study fish disease preps. you don't have an ammonia issue at this many days, and covered above only ammonia matters in reef tank cycling.

given this many days, nobody fails to control ammonia, that's where you stand. fish disease preps are the sole issue here, yet to be mentioned.

post a pic of your tank let's see how much rock cooked up this last month.

I have right around 30 pounds of marco rock in the tank my last few tanks I also ran 3/4 pound of rock per gallon and worked perfectly granted it was treated dry rock. I’ll go out today and grab a hardy fish that isn’t a baslett or clown so they won’t cause issues with my fish I’m moving from my other tank. Thanks for the input I’ll give it a shot and let you know how it goes thanks!

Colin you need to know this, from updated cycling science threads, it will remove your headache:

-there are no reef cycles at day 30 who can't carry a load of fish, they all can, yours too

nitrite isn't going to burn them

old rules said nitrite matters
people who sell bottle bac say nitrite matters (which is where forum posters got that idea)


it does not matter in reef tank cycling, it matters in nitrate testing/so wait longer to test for nitrates.

by day 60 any cycling chart shows all params are fine, so wait to test for nitrates till then, nitrites won't be interfering.

you don't need to manage nitrates in the first several months anyway for any reef tank, cease testing for them a while and your nitrite presence won't matter whether it's + or -


adding fish without following fish disease preps is the real risk, there's an entire forum dedicated to preventing that with detailed steps, the matter is this serious.

if you've had a stack of rocks stewing in water this long after feed plus bottle bac, what you need to do is cease wondering about the cycle and only study fish disease preps. you don't have an ammonia issue at this many days, and covered above only ammonia matters in reef tank cycling.

given this many days, nobody fails to control ammonia, that's where you stand. fish disease preps are the sole issue here, yet to be mentioned.

post a pic of your tank let's see how much rock cooked up this last month.

 

[BBReef14]

Did you nitrites ever come down and what did you do to get there?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Did you nitrites ever come down and what did you do to get there?

Are you experiencing a nitrite issue?