Reading Ammonia and NitrAtes but no NitritEs

[Capsle]

Hey Reefers,

My tank is cycling with a small amount of water at the moment (waiting to replace my eruobrace as I cracked it). It's been cycling since last Sunday.

I just tested and found I have 0 Nitrites. Is this normal?

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 50.

I have 70 lb live rock 60 lb live sand. Approximately 25g of water in a 65g tank



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[thegrun]

I suspect your rock is leaching nitrates into the water.

 

[cougareyes]

I have put together tanks with completely clean cured live rock and some seasoned bio media from another tank and cycled within a few days. Dosed a small amount of dr tim's ammonium chloride to get an ammonia spike, and instantly cycled to nitrates. So it is possible, perhaps the nitrifying bacteria is already present in sufficient numbers to process nitrite. If your ammonia drops to zero and your nitrates increase still without showing nitrites then that is the case, and your cycle is viable.

 

[Capsle]

Awesome, thanks for the info.

Last question: to remove nitrates water changes are necessary, correct?


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[CStrickland]

Rock simply cannot leach nitrate into the water.

Bacteria will remove nitrate from the water, but it can take them much longer to settle into agroove and start doing that than it takes the nitrate producers to ramp up. So you have a common problem in new tanks, and you have gotten a jump on it by wetting your rocks early. While the denitrifiers are establishing, water changes are a very effective way to lower nitrates, and IMO vastly superior to freaking out and embarking on projects like carbon dosing, or reactors.

But... nitrates arent that big a deal anyway. They don't hurt fish, or hardy coral. They fertilize algae, but you're going to have algae anyway in a new tank so that's not worth fussing over too much. You'll hear that some inverts are sensitive to nitrates, but it's really more fancy ones like urchins etc. A basic CUC of snails and crabs will be fine until you get crazy high, like hundreds of ppm nitrates.

So I wouldn't worry. Work on setting up a maintenance schedule that will fit your life and suit your tank long-term. Maybe toss in an extra change here and there until your denitrifiers catch up. Keep the tank clean, if you have filters or socks catching the dead bacteria you added with the live sand and rock, make sure to keep them well rinsed so that the nutrients aren't released into the water as they decay. If a lot of dead crud is fluffing off the rocks, try to suck it up with a siphon during water changes, before it rots. In a month or two you'll see the bacteria get to work as the system matures and the number will drop on its own.

 

[cougareyes]

Awesome, thanks for the info.

Last question: to remove nitrates water changes are necessary, correct?


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I do a big water change at end of the cycle, it's good to start out with the lowest nitrates before you start adding. In the beginning it's best to stick with water changes to lower your nitrates. There are inventive methods of nitrate reduction but I would wait until your tank is producing a substantial bioload and you get a bit more experience.