Nitrate/Nitrite HIGH...help!

[Delprincipe]

Hi all.... we are new and so is our tank! About 2 weeks old with live rock/sand from TBS

Our nitrate and nitrite levels are high now and I can see a visible difference in the rocks and sponges.

Can anyone please let us now a remedy?

 

[disc1]

You're going through a part of the cycling process. Just watch it for a while and the nitrite should decline.

FWIW: Nitrite will cause a nitrate test to read high. So nitrate may not be as high as you think right now.

 

[Delprincipe]

Thank you. Concerned for the cleaner critters in the tank and sponges/anemones/corals we do have.

Most people say the sponges will go but we'd like to keep as much as possible. We're doing a water change now to see how that helps.

 

[Point ohh Eight]

Don't do a water change until the cycle process is complete

 

[SKurj]

Its supposed to be high now at 2 weeks in, no live stock until those nitrites get to 0... Tank is cycling its normal, you just shouldn't put any fish/corals/cuc in until they come down.

 

[Delprincipe]

Can't help but have those critters in there. We got all our rock and sand from TBS and the cleaners are all part of the package.

Considering they are there what are your suggestions now?

Glad to hear the high levels are normal. So they'll go down on their own?

 

[Point ohh Eight]

Don't add any new livestock or coral. Let the nitrites and nitrates go down by themselves and don't do any more water changes

 

[SKurj]

it will slow the cycle down, but to reduce the suffering of the livestock water changes are needed.

 

[Delprincipe]

So if we went the "no water change way" then we'll just be adding water as the tank's water evaporates?

And if we continue with water changes, what % do you recommend?

 

[SushiGirl]

Define "high" in numbers.

 

[heckfire]

Thank you. Concerned for the cleaner critters in the tank and sponges/anemones/corals we do have.

Most people say the sponges will go but we'd like to keep as much as possible. We're doing a water change now to see how that helps.

your tank is 2 weeks old and you have it stocked with sponges/anemones/corals ................????

 

[agruetz]

Define "high" in numbers.

This would be my first question as well.

 

[Delprincipe]

This morning nitrite was 5.0 and nitrate were between 40-80. We did a 25% water change and the levels went down a bit to 2.0 and between 20-40.

Yes, we do have critters. They came with our package that we ordered through TBS. The 1st half of our package cycled no problem. The 2nd half is having a few issues but it's probably our doing since we felt it important to feed the critters. We have no fish and have not planned on having fish for quite some time. We are newbs but have been researching and planning and waiting a long time before we decided to finally build/fill or tank.

 

[joelespinoza]

Make sure you have good flow, that will increase the change from nitrite to nitrate and increasing the disolved O2 will make respiration easier for your livestock, which is what high nitrates makes problematic.

I would suggest you stop feeding them and turn off any lights for 2-3 days at least. That should not cause a problems for critters who have been fed recently and it will help out considerably.

 

[Delprincipe]

How do you determine good flow? We have 2 Koralia Nano pumps in the tank plus the HOB Reef Octopus.

We can easily turn the lights off. At this time we only have full lights on for 5 hr/day.

Are you on the side of water changes or no water changes?

 

[meco65]

Call TBS and see what they say. JMO. You paid alot for there package they should help you.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Have you been doing consistent water changes??? Look on the TBS site. They tell you exactly how to handle their rocks. Everytime the ammonia reaches 1ppm (I think), you are supposed to do a water change. You should be attempting to keep the ammonia below 1ppm. Do water changes every time you see the ammonia go above 1ppm. Not doing the upkeep per TBS guidelines could cause alot of die-off in your tank.

I ordered from TBS not long ago and did water changes every time to ammonia went up. I had no problems. Some of your livestock (esp sponges) will likely die off over time. Sponges can be very hard to keep alive.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I do not think those values are cause for concern. As long as ammonia is undetectable, you are OK. Nitrite and nitrate are not toxicity problems and as mentioned, the nitrate may be far lower than you think.

 

[Delprincipe]

Thank you all. I will definately be emailing Richard just to confirm with him his opinion.

@Cloudburst2000, how has everything been for you? We probably got a bit too ahead of ourselves when we started feeding our invertabrates... how long did you wait to supplement our tank with nutrients?

Our ammonia has not gone done to 0 yet but has not beem over 1ppm. Maybe we got overzealous there testing everything too. Like Meco65 said, we paid a lot and just wanted to make sure we were covering all our bases.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What sort of creatures are present with detectable ammonia? Less than 1 ppm is still a concern. Even 0.2 ppm is a concern.