Nitrites Rising After Cycle

[mickeyfish]

So I completed my fishless cycle last week (tool 3 weeks using One and Only and dosing ammonia). I was at the point where 2ppm dosed one evening would result in 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites the next.

Since then I have added a (small) clean up crew from reefcleaners.com, two clownfish, and 6 corals. Yesterday I tested my water and Nitrites were .25. Today I tested at .5. Will these levels harm the fish, CUC, or corals? I noticed my flower pot and torch will not open all the way.

The past three days I have done 5 gallon water changes. Any other suggestions?

 

[RobZilla04]

Slow down. Corals in a tank thats three weeks old....

Leave the CUC in thank for several more weeks and keep testing. Weekly water changes will help but likely tge nitrites are coming from the waste the crew is creating.

 

[mickeyfish]

That is the plan. It will be at least Feb before I add anything else to the tank now. Is a weekly 5 gallon water change sufficient at this point, or should I be doing changes more often?

 

[JUNBUG361]

This

Slow down. Corals in a tank thats three weeks old....

 

[OldReefGuy]

are you seeing any nitrates yet? You tank is very young and your system isnt that stable yet. As the others said, slow down. Hopefully you see some nitrates soon and that should take care of your nitrite issue. As long as you dont see any ammon....it should be ok.

 

[oldhead]

That is the plan. It will be at least Feb before I add anything else to the tank now. Is a weekly 5 gallon water change sufficient at this point, or should I be doing changes more often?

It would be hard to say if 5 gallons would be sufficient without knowing the size of the tank.

 

[mickeyfish]

It would be hard to say if 5 gallons would be sufficient without knowing the size of the tank.

Ah. It's a Biocube 32.


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[mickeyfish]

Also, my nitrate level is 20-30.


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[allendehl]

Also, my nitrate level is 20-30.


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Do a larger water change to get rid of those nitrates.

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[mickeyfish]

Do a larger water change to get rid of those nitrates.

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Will do at least a 10g today. What about a product like Seachem Denitrate? Is this reasonable to use?


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[OldReefGuy]

IMO, stick to smaller more frequent changes. do small ones every day. A large change might restart your cycle. Its a small tank so you will have to do changes slowly....anyway
good luck

 

[RobZilla04]

Larger changes are better imo than smaller more frequent changes.

 

[Mdj]

I am still fairly new but was overfeeding at first and he trouble with nitrates I have found it easier to do large water changes to drop down fast just make sure temp and salinity are the same I change 3 to 4 gallons a week on my 10 gallon and have no problems corals seem to like it better than small water changes more frequently and nitrates stay down

 

[thegrun]

You really should have only dosed ammonia one time to start the cycle. Because you dosed ammonia several times it has left you with high nitrates. I would recomend a couple of large water changes in the 50% range to bring down the nitrates which are high enough now to kill some corals and will also promote algae growth. Because the water changes are going to be large be sure to match the water temperature of the new water to your display tanks temperature and the alkalinity should also be fairly close.