How high is too high for nitrites in an empty 2 month cycled tank?

[SasquatchFarmer]

Hey all,

Like the title says, how high is too high? I'm at 0.1 ppm (new salifert).

I am taking my time setting up a 65 AGA tank, 6" DSB, 75 pounds of dead/Marco rock. initially added commercially available good bacteria (from the pet store) initially, and old filters from a well established tank atleast a month ago. good flow. no heater (temp 65-70) initially, and just hooked it up. Gonna transfer my fish from an established nano tank to the new one. Now I am thinking its not time yet. thoughts? could the low temp have drastically lenghtened the cycle time? I even started with live sand initially...

thanks for the advice in advance, I'll be watching this closely!

[CoRPS]

0.1 is almost nothing man. You're golden. When it gets up to 40+ppm then you need to worry. But.. get a heater

[SasquatchFarmer]

Edited the first post: from nitrates to nitrites.

Sorry all I meant to type in nitrites! Thanks anyway though CoRPS!

[CoRPS]

I'd go out and buy some live rock, even if it's only 5-10lbs. Preferably more ofcourse.

Edit: Seriously though, you're going to need at least a little bit of live rock to feed the rest. I see you bought "good bacteria", but I didn't know they sold anything like that. I'd go out and buy the real thing to help with the denitrification (spelling?) process. Your LR should be your main source of biological filtration.

If you can, save up $100 and go to a LFS and get as much LR as possible. Should be good for 15-20lbs.

[SasquatchFarmer]

Thanks, I'll be transferring 15 pounds or so from my nano, and all the sand. I also have the heater hooked up (marineland stealth 250watts) on a Ranco, set to 81.

[CoRPS]

you should pull 5-10lbs out of the nano now and put it in the tank so it's ready for your livestock by the time you're ready to transfer over.

[SasquatchFarmer]

Good idea, but where will all my fish hide? They are little and there are more than a few. I'm afraid that will stress them out more than necessary before the move. Thoughts?

[SasquatchFarmer]

I have been hearing a lot about Marco Rocks here on RC and wanted to try them out. Maybe the low temperature resulted in a longer cycle?

[CoRPS]

It could be. I cycled my tank in about 72F and it only lasted about 3-4 weeks. However, I used live rock. If you don't want to move the LR get a heater and let it sit for another week or so and retest.