Hi Reefdiver
Oh, where is my bad girl ANN? :wildone:
ANN is the acronym for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. One of the things about a cycle is that every one of those three compounds will probably be present in some amount. The questions is when and how much?
Ammonia is the first to appear. It is formed by the decay of nitrogen compounds such as protein. Within about a week or so a group of bacteria that feast on ammonia appear and convert it to nitrite. Shortly thereafter, another group of bacteria consume the nitrite and change it to nitrate. We have:
NH3 converts to NO2 converts to NO3
In most cases this is all happening at once. Usually when LR is removed from the ocean and shipped there is much die-off and ammonia production overwhelms nitrite/nitrate production. It is not that the bacteria that produce nitrite and nitrate are not there. It is just they are slow growing and take some time to catch up to the increased ammonia production.
In some cases either the die-off is not so severe or the nitrite/nitrate bacteria have had time to meet the ammonia demand. In that case ammonia is "eaten" almost immediately, converted to nitrite/nitrate, and shows up close to zero in a test. This is not bad, in fact it is good. I think this is the case with your Haitian Rock.
Your next step is to get the coralline back into shape on the rock. Provide proper lighting and adjust pH, alkalinity and calcium levels. See Doc Randy's Chemistry Articles on methods to do that.
So, don't worry about the absence of ammonia and let nature take it's course. Soon your sand bed should also help in the last part of the nitrogen cycle by converting nitrate into nitrogen gas.
Oh, where is my bad girl ANN? :wildone:
ANN is the acronym for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. One of the things about a cycle is that every one of those three compounds will probably be present in some amount. The questions is when and how much?
Ammonia is the first to appear. It is formed by the decay of nitrogen compounds such as protein. Within about a week or so a group of bacteria that feast on ammonia appear and convert it to nitrite. Shortly thereafter, another group of bacteria consume the nitrite and change it to nitrate. We have:
NH3 converts to NO2 converts to NO3
In most cases this is all happening at once. Usually when LR is removed from the ocean and shipped there is much die-off and ammonia production overwhelms nitrite/nitrate production. It is not that the bacteria that produce nitrite and nitrate are not there. It is just they are slow growing and take some time to catch up to the increased ammonia production.
In some cases either the die-off is not so severe or the nitrite/nitrate bacteria have had time to meet the ammonia demand. In that case ammonia is "eaten" almost immediately, converted to nitrite/nitrate, and shows up close to zero in a test. This is not bad, in fact it is good. I think this is the case with your Haitian Rock.
Your next step is to get the coralline back into shape on the rock. Provide proper lighting and adjust pH, alkalinity and calcium levels. See Doc Randy's Chemistry Articles on methods to do that.
So, don't worry about the absence of ammonia and let nature take it's course. Soon your sand bed should also help in the last part of the nitrogen cycle by converting nitrate into nitrogen gas.
.
