nitrites

[macci]

hi all

i have a nanao tank been set up for around 2 months now. i test water vrey 2 days it was all ok ammonia 0 [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]nitrites 0 nitrates 0 about a 2 weeks ago i change the light and make a mistake i leave it for a whole week 24 hrs last week i notice that hair green algie start to grow my local fish store recomand me that i turn off the light fir a week because i dont have any corals yet. i did that and works all my algiie is gone. the proplem is that today i check [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]nitrites (no2) abd it came up 10mg is this because of the hair algie dying? i am worriey because i thing the cycle was over

thanks
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[tyler1503]

A nitrate reading of 10 isn't bad. A lot of people will tell you it's good. Most people seem to like a little nitrate in their tanks now.
Do you have fish yet?

 

[tyler1503]

A nitrate reading of 10 isn't bad. A lot of people will tell you it's good. Most people seem to like a little nitrate in their tanks now.
Do you have fish yet?

EDIT: Sorry, I thought you said nitrate, not nitrite. It will come down naturally in a week or so. All the healthy bacteria you grew during the cycle will use it up. You'll end up with a bit of nitrate afterwards though.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's the poop on nitrite in a saltwater tank......IT DOESN'T MATTER. With extremely very few exceptions, nitrite has no effect on saltwater creatures. It is the second process in going from ammonia to nitrate. It will never reach a concentration to have an impact on your wildlife. The only reason to test in saltwater is to monitor your initial cycle of the tank. I wouldn't worry about it, assuming your ammonia is zero. (NOTE, if you have a freshwater tank, nitrite is a potential concern.)

 

[Reefing Madness]

Nitrite and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[tyler1503]

Here's the poop on nitrite in a saltwater tank......IT DOESN'T MATTER. With extremely very few exceptions, nitrite has no effect on saltwater creatures. It is the second process in going from ammonia to nitrate. It will never reach a concentration to have an impact on your wildlife. The only reason to test in saltwater is to monitor your initial cycle of the tank. I wouldn't worry about it, assuming your ammonia is zero. (NOTE, if you have a freshwater tank, nitrite is a potential concern.)

I never knew that. I was always told that it was more toxic than nitrate. Do you have any sources for this?

 

[redfishbluefish]

I never knew that. I was always told that it was more toxic than nitrate. Do you have any sources for this?

See the Dr. Randy Holmes Farley link in post #5.