What's going on inside my tank

[pinsonja]

Hey guys, I've been cycling a thirty gallon for about a month now. I'd like to see if anyone can explain to me what's going on with this cycle. I don't understand why my Nitrites fell off and shot back up. My water parameters are as follows.

June 21st:
Temp - 80F
Salinity - 1.024
PH - 7.4
Ammonia - 1.0ppm
Nitrite - .5ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm

July 4: Added 5lbs live rock
Temp - 78.5F
Salinity - 1.025
PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 1.0ppm
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5ppm
Phosphate - .25
Alk - 10

Tonight (4 days later):
Temp - 78.3F
Salinity - 1.025
PH - 7.9
Ammonia - 1.0ppm
Nitrite - 2.0ppm
Nitrate - 20ppm

 

[_Conway]

Still going through cycle I believe. The additional live rock most likely is what caused a spike.

 

[pinsonja]

Still going through cycle I believe. The additional live rock most likely is what caused a spike.

Would have any idea on why my Nitrites went to zero? I haven't dosed it with anything so I didn't figure that I killed any bacteria unless I did in another way.

 

[pinsonja]

I suppose it doesn't matter too much being as Nitrites are obviously present now, I was just curious.

 

[jwardecker]

What beneficial bacteria that was in the consumed the nitrates before you added the rock. Once you added the rock anything that was dead or laying on the rock went into your tank adding a little no3. Thus it caused it to spike. Now your tank is going to go thru another cycle to remove the nitrates and others. Anytime you add anything to your tank you will be adding p04 or no3 all depends on whats on the rock. But once you have a build up of nitrifying bacteria they will consume it rather quickly. Allways cure your rock before putting it in your tank. Hope that helps

 

[pinsonja]

What beneficial bacteria that was in the consumed the nitrates before you added the rock. Once you added the rock anything that was dead or laying on the rock went into your tank adding a little no3. Thus it caused it to spike. Now your tank is going to go thru another cycle to remove the nitrates and others. Anytime you add anything to your tank you will be adding p04 or no3 all depends on whats on the rock. But once you have a build up of nitrifying bacteria they will consume it rather quickly. Allways cure your rock before putting it in your tank. Hope that helps

Awesome, I understand now. Makes sense. So is this going to happen every time I add live rock?

 

[jwardecker]

No and yes. If you cure the rock real good in a seperate container with tank water before adding it then that will take care of the issue of adding butrient to your display tank. Its unavoidable putting nutrient in your tank either from feeding or fish poo. But once your tank gets cycled it won't be that big of an issue as long as you do water changes and clean your tank. Good husbandry goes a long way

 

[pinsonja]

No and yes. If you cure the rock real good in a seperate container with tank water before adding it then that will take care of the issue of adding butrient to your display tank. Its unavoidable putting nutrient in your tank either from feeding or fish poo. But once your tank gets cycled it won't be that big of an issue as long as you do water changes and clean your tank. Good husbandry goes a long way

Thank you very much for the info. Very well put, I understand now.

 

[Oceansize]

Adding any new life (including live rock) will increase the amount of toxins being produced. As a tank gets settled and balanced, the beneficial bacteria reach parity as well: the tank only supports as much bacteria as there is food for it to survive, so no matter how old the tank is, adding new life will require more bacteria than currently exists. The tank needs time for enough bacteria to grow to offset the larger amount of toxin production. Ammonia and nitrite spikes may occur during this time as a result. If you could constantly test the water, you'd probably notice a little ammonia spike just before the nitrite spike, but since your tank was already close to being cycled prior to adding the live rock, such a spike would be very short-lived. This is why it is important to add new life slowly.