??? Tried to skip cycle ??

[Hilltopreef90]

I used 10 gallons of water from an established tank along with 10 gallons of new saltwater then put an filter sock from the established tank into the new aquarium I set up as quarantine
I have no ammonia but the nitrite is fairly high (using a color chart so it’s hard to say the exact level)
I did a 10% water change yesterday but the nitrites seemed to be higher afterwards.
How do I eliminate the nitrite and know when it’s safe to put my fish in?

 

[blaxsun]

Did you place any existing or new rock and substrate in the new tank?

 

[Hilltopreef90]

No , it’s a quarantine tank so I won’t be putting any rock or substrate

 

[Garf]

No , it’s a quarantine tank so I won’t be putting any rock or substrate

You got any bioballs? A photo would be good but sounds like you are relying on bacterial population of the glass to be enough.

 

[LiamPM]

The water wouldnt have brought much, if any beneficial bacteria across that deals with the nitrifIcation process. Thats mainly on the larger surface areas of your rock etc.

Same gist on the filter sock - It may have some but entirely depends how long it was in your existing system for bacteria to colonise on it and if its a sufficient amount.

This is why some of us use extra "disposable" media blocks or filter media that sits in the sump of our main tanks for quite some time and then when the need arises to pull it across. As its been sitting for time in the running tank it has plenty of bacteria already on it to deal with anything required in the QT tank.

I imagine the sock and water brought very little if any across.

 

[Just John]

You could add bottled bacteria to get it up to speed now and what you brought over on the sock, etc. will provide a starter for a greater variety of bacteria that is potentially missing in the bottled stuff.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

You could add bottled bacteria to get it up to speed now and what you brought over on the sock, etc. will provide a starter for a greater variety of bacteria that is potentially missing in the bottled stuff.

Will microbacter 7 work 7

 

[Just John]

Will microbacter 7 work 7

I don't have the bottle in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that is something that you put in every day to keep phosphates and nitrates lower while maintaining bacteria. I could be wrong, but I don't think it is specifically marketed as something to use to instantly start a tank. I believe there is Microbacter Start for that. You could check Amazon, but They should have a bottle of what you need at a lfs.

 

[threebuoys]

Water changes are not useful for fast-starting a tank at the stage you are in. You want the nitrite to be converted to nitrate, not exported via water change. You can't be sure the tank is "cycled" unless you can determine ammonia is being processed to nitrite and then to nitrate. If you have never had any ammonia in the tank, its difficult to determine if it would be processed or not. The loaded filter sock may well be all you need, but to be sure, you need to have an ammonia source (i.e. food) and the ability to test to confirm the ammonia is being processed to zero and that nitrates are growing as a result of the cycle.

Different threads and stickies describe procedures often used to quick start a tank. Another option based on where you are at would be to add several damsels or other inexpensive fish to the tank and monitor the ammonia and nitrate levels daily. If the cycle is working, the ammonia should remain at or very near zero and the nitrate level should gradually increase.

 

[LiamPM]

Water changes are not useful for fast-starting a tank at the stage you are in. You want the nitrite to be converted to nitrate, not exported via water change. You can't be sure the tank is "cycled" unless you can determine ammonia is being processed to nitrite and then to nitrate. If you have never had any ammonia in the tank, its difficult to determine if it would be processed or not. The loaded filter sock may well be all you need, but to be sure, you need to have an ammonia source (i.e. food) and the ability to test to confirm the ammonia is being processed to zero and that nitrates are growing as a result of the cycle.

Different threads and stickies describe procedures often used to quick start a tank. Another option based on where you are at would be to add several damsels or other inexpensive fish to the tank and monitor the ammonia and nitrate levels daily. If the cycle is working, the ammonia should remain at or very near zero and the nitrate level should gradually increase.

Its a quarantine tank...

And this day and age there is zero reason to walk into a store and purchase any fish you dont plan to stock long term in your aquarium. Buying "inexpensive" fish to "test" the water is just outdated and wrong.

 

[ShakerBreaker]

My understanding is that microbacter7 is a product you use on a cycled tank. They make a different combination of products to help cycle a tank, This link will take you to their kit. I did use it and I believe it was successful, but I used it after doing a complete cycle on my dry rock in a trash can aquarium beforehand and then used it after the move into the new display before fish were added.

So I can't tell you if it works for sure since really my rocks were already cycled.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

Water changes are not useful for fast-starting a tank at the stage you are in. You want the nitrite to be converted to nitrate, not exported via water change. You can't be sure the tank is "cycled" unless you can determine ammonia is being processed to nitrite and then to nitrate. If you have never had any ammonia in the tank, its difficult to determine if it would be processed or not. The loaded filter sock may well be all you need, but to be sure, you need to have an ammonia source (i.e. food) and the ability to test to confirm the ammonia is being processed to zero and that nitrates are growing as a result of the cycle.

Different threads and stickies describe procedures often used to quick start a tank. Another option based on where you are at would be to add several damsels or other inexpensive fish to the tank and monitor the ammonia and nitrate levels daily. If the cycle is working, the ammonia should remain at or very near zero and the nitrate level should gradually increase.

I have ammonia I can add , I’ll try it and see what happens meanwhile I ordered some microbacter start