High nitrites...

[Andokid]

Hi,

I'm new to the the saltwater hobby and i'm looking for some advice...

I got a new tank towards the end of November 2017 its 202L got everything for it that the fish shop recommended I get (its pretty much the same one as they have on display)

I got the tank set up and put the water in it at the start of December and started to false feed the tank to help with the cycle, I was also adding in AquaCare to help with the ammonia and nitrites just like the guys in the fish shop had suggested and still am adding it weekly and was doing water tests every other day and everything was at 0ppm.

So in January a little over 30 days after getting everything up and running I added 2 damsels first and everything was still showing 0ppm then a week or so later I added a bunch of snails and a fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp, everything was fine...

Then before I went to get more fish i done another test and my ammonia was 0.25ppm and my nitrites was at 1.0ppm and my nitrates where at 5.0ppm.

I've done two 10% water changes since this and a 40% water change, the ammonia is 0ppm, nitrties are still 1.00ppm and nitrates are 10ppm.

I've went to the same shop and asked for advice and was i got told to buy PhosNitra reducer and that should bring it down slowly - its been a week since I added this to the sump and still no change.

the tank has also went through a diatom bloom but that is now gone... the fish, shrimp and snails are all still alive and seem to be doing fine and i'm feeding every second day.

Is this a normal part of cycling? ... have I added livestock to soon?

Sorry for the essay and thanks in advance!

[sde1500]

To start, 10ppm nitrates isn't that high. You mention feeding the tank (i think you meant ghost feeding) but also that levels tested zero. That is a little unusual for a cycle unless you started with all high quality live rock. That you are seeing ammonia now means you probably didn't cycle the tank appropriately. I wouldn't be adding anything to the tank to lower nitrates. The tank is brand new. Need to let it find a balance on its own before you start working to chase numbers.

[mcgyvr]

A tank thats been up since November has cycled already.. it only takes a month or so even without doing anything special..

I'd suspect that the nitrite reading is false so I would ignore it really..

On average you should be doing roughly a 20% water change every 2 weeks..
That alone should keep nitrates where they need to be and 10ppm is totally fine/acceptable..

You can really stop the aquacare product too.. You should have a self sustaining bacterial population at this time and shouldn't need to add any "bacteria in a bottle"..
It alone could be whats causing this nitrite reading if there really is one..

[Uncle99]

You want to manage nitrate in the 2-10ppm range....corals....when and if you get them use a bit of nitrate as a nutrient.....this will take some time...

[Troublekitty]

Originally Posted by Andokid

Hi,



I got the tank set up and put the water in it at the start of December and started to false feed the tank to help with the cycle, I was also adding in AquaCare to help with the ammonia and nitrites just like the guys in the fish shop had suggested and still am adding it weekly and was doing water tests every other day and everything was at 0ppm.

It doesn't sound like your tank fully cycled if you were adding something to reduce ammonia during your cycle.