What causes the ammonia and nitrites?

townjas · Aug 5, 2014

I am setting up a150 gallon tank. I emptied the water, live rock and a little bit of the sand from an established 29 gallon tank. I did about an 8 gallon water change on my 55 and used the changed water in the 150 and used some live rock from that system also. Lastly I have a 40 gallon sump/refugium that was on the 55 until a couple weeks ago I I took about 4 gallons from that to add to the 150.
In total I have added about 60lbs or 70lbs of cycled live rock from my other tanks. I have also added about 25 gallons of new saltwater.
I am going to add another 40 or 50 gallons of new saltwater tonight, then I probably won't fill it the rest of the way until I transfer my fish, coral and remaining rock from my 55.
I do have 200 lbs of new dry sand in the tank (well it was dry).

My questions are:
What causes the ammonia and nitrites in a new tank?
Besides the live rock and sand what equipment do I need to assist in the cycling?
Should I put the system on the established sump/refuge now or wait?

Eienna · Aug 5, 2014

1. Ammonia and nitrite in a new tank is usually from any die-off in the live rock and/or live sand in the tank. If you transferred it quickly, and it stayed in water, you will probably have very little die-off (also known as curing) from what you specifically added.

2. Mostly, just time and nutrient input. Curing rock and sand (live stuff that has some organisms dying off) will usually create all the ammonia you need to initially cycle the tank, given time. In this case, you may want to add a piece of raw shrimp and let it decompose, because you will not have much die-off.

If your rock and sand are already cured, chances are it has most of the cycle bacteria already. You could add your first cleanup crew or just ghost-feed (feed it like there were animals in the tank) and watch what that does to your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels. If ammo/nitrite stay down despite this feeding, you're already cycled enough to start with a small animal.

3. If you already have an established sump or refugium, yes, you can do that right away. This will give you a super-jumpstart on your cycle. If you leave the fuge off too long you will get a massive die-off in it and that's bad; do not delay if it's already "off" or disconnected from the last system.

townjas · Aug 5, 2014

The refugium/sump have been kept active with lighting and phyto feast and a little bit of food here and there & I have kept a light on for the cheato.
You are right, I guess I am not as worried about the ammonia as I am the nitrites. Is it coming from the new dry sand in the tank?
I did not want to hook up the sump and kill everything in it with the nitrites in the new system.
I currently have a maxi-jet running in the new tank to get water movement, but that is it. I will test the ammonia and nitrites tonight and if they are -0- I could add another 40-50 gallons on new saltwater and then drain the 55 into the 150 to finish it off (And turn on the pump to start the sump).
I did notice I had a couple astria stars on the glass this morning.

Eienna · Aug 5, 2014

Nitrites show up when ammonia is being processed into nitrite but there is not enough bacteria to process the nitrite into nitrate as it occurs. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XC7xT0mIbY&index=101&list=FLy4ytu8aV9KvCG0DftQc_6g

Usually, you will not see nitrite because it will be processed as fast as it is made. In this case, you either have a lot more than usual ammonia going into nitrite or you simply did not transfer enough of the nitrite to nitrate bacteria.

A water change and then adding the sump sounds like a very good idea. It should give you the bacteria you're missing. If you do this and notice that ammonia and/or nitrite are still increasing, check carefully for dead animals and then you can add some Bio-Spira or my favorite, Dr. Tim's One and Only for saltwater. That should fix it up.

New dry sand should not cause that unless it was dried from live and not properly rinsed afterwards.

townjas · Aug 5, 2014

So far I do not have a problem, in fact I have not even tested for anything yet. I just wanted to understand the process before I made decisions on moving my livestock into the new tank.

Eienna · Aug 5, 2014

Ah. Well, check it out and we can go from there.

Did I help at all?

townjas · Aug 5, 2014

Yes you did.

Eienna · Aug 5, 2014

Yay n_n I like helping.

beaslbob · Aug 5, 2014

ammonia/nitrItes/nitrates/co2/phosphates and so on are caused overwhelming by the bioload.

Balanced out a cycling tank will have low to no ammonia/nitrItes but a possible initial nitrate spike along with initial lower ph. The macros will prefer to consume ammonia directly forgoing nitrAtes for nitrogen.

What I do is let the tank settle in for a week to insure the macros are in control. Then add a very small bioload and not add food the second week. Then start feeding very very lightly (1 flake per day) and adding more fish and livestock.

That way the macros stay in control as the aerobic bacterial expand and start consuming the ammonia. So after a few weeks the nitrates drop down and pH rises. At that point the macros are consumeing the nitrates and the bacteria the ammonia/nitrItes.

my .02