Nitrite not dropping after 6 months of cycling.

[Jurian.G]

I've been cycling my 100 liter nano tank for over 6 months now. It took over 3.5 months to get rid of the ammonia and now after 6 months the nitrite seemed to be dropping finally. But just as it reached 0,10/0,15 it started rising again with ammonia still 0. Water changes make no difference in parameters. The same before and after the change. I've been dosing bacteria for months. Temperature and salinity have always been great. What should I do now?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

But just as it reached 0,10/0,15

Do you mean nitrite is 0.1 to 0.15 ppm?

In general, you are safe to ignore nitrite entirely. Unlike fresh water, it is not toxic in seawater.

 

[InactionJackson]

What test kit are you using?

 

[Jurian.G]

Ppm yes. And It is definitely toxic to animals as far as I know. Perhaps the test isn't showing the correct outcome. So maybe trying a different brand of test might show otherwise. I used a Colombo test

 

[InactionJackson]

Ppm yes. And It is definitely toxic to animals as far as I know. Perhaps the test isn't showing the correct outcome. So maybe trying a different brand of test might show otherwise. I used a Colombo test

Never heard of it….go with a different test kit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ppm yes. And It is definitely toxic to animals as far as I know. Perhaps the test isn't showing the correct outcome. So maybe trying a different brand of test might show otherwise. I used a Colombo test

Sorry, but that's wrong. Just stop testing nitrite.

Seriously, total waste of time and money.

You can read all of the data that supports it's lack of toxicity in my article below.

If your LFS told you it was toxic, dump them and get better advice somewhere else.

Nitrite and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ppm yes. And It is definitely toxic to animals as far as I know. Perhaps the test isn't showing the correct outcome. So maybe trying a different brand of test might show otherwise. I used a Colombo test

Read up on nitrite in reef tanks before buying a kit.

 

[brandon429]

I have heard of colombo misreading five times now, welcome to the world of non digital testing

the only way the ammonia took that long to drop was if you did not input bottled bac nor feed to the system, a dry rock start left in water

if you had any combination of organic feed present that whole time in any form, naturally-contaminated filter bacteria from when you made the initial tank fill would populate the tank and get ammonia handling done much faster (cycling charts show the average ammonia drop date, under two weeks in every case)


let's see your setup. the degree of rock used, the type of cycle, give details. pics

agreed: nitrite has no bearing nor usage in display reefing, running the kit can only trip you up (by making you chase a neutral parameter)

 

[Jurian.G]

Never heard of it….go with a different test kit.

Colombo is quite a good brand but I think its European/Netherlands only. But I will try a different test.

 

[brandon429]

you don't need a test though, your cycle has been done a very long time already. until you own a seneye and run that Columbo against a seneye-tracked cycle, you're going to think it's a good test by having no digital alternative to see the real action time.


there isn't any practical condition in a home that would prevent this tank from being cycled. you stated ammonia dropped, that means done, although the test kit prevented you from seeing it drop within the charted known time for any bottle bac cycle


did you use bottle bacteria at the start + a feed source to generate the ammonia

do your rocks have any growths on them like algae/cyano etc/any type of messy bacterial growths in the tank (if there's been no light then this detail is unlikely)

 

[Lavey29]

Ppm yes. And It is definitely toxic to animals as far as I know. Perhaps the test isn't showing the correct outcome. So maybe trying a different brand of test might show otherwise. I used a Colombo test

Wrong, as Randy mentioned, nitrite is irrelevant in reef tanks and not harmful to fish. No reason to test it. If your tank has 0 ammonia and measurable nitrates then it is cycling properly.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Colombo is quite a good brand but I think its European/Netherlands only. But I will try a different test.

Waste of money. Read up.

 

[Jurian.G]

you don't need a test though, your cycle has been done a very long time already. until you own a seneye and run that Columbo against a seneye-tracked cycle, you're going to think it's a good test by having no digital alternative to see the real action time.


there isn't any practical condition in a home that would prevent this tank from being cycled. you stated ammonia dropped, that means done, although the test kit prevented you from seeing it drop within the charted known time for any bottle bac cycle


did you use bottle bacteria at the start + a feed source to generate the ammonia

do your rocks have any growths on them like algae/cyano etc/any type of messy bacterial growths in the tank (if there's been no light then this detail is unlikely)

Thanks. I guess it has been cycled then. I had never heard of a tanks cycle taking 6 months so it seemed that something was off. And yes there has been some algea on the rocks for months now. Its not growing as fast as before so I cleaned it up a bit and it is under control now. I have a pair of clowns, a torchcoral, pipe organ coral and GSP and they are all doing great. So probably nothing to worry about.

 

[brandon429]

hey neat
agreed when carrying all that life it's been long done, nice to ease the concern.

 

[Jurian.G]

hey neat
agreed when carrying all that life it's been long done, nice to ease the concern.

Update: Rip one fish. The other one is also not doing great. Nitrate is skyhigh. Way above 4mg/L. Ammonia is 0,25. One clown died of some swimbladder issue i think. It looks like the second might be the same. I'm out of ideas. I did many waterchanges over the last couple of weeks bus none of them resulted in even a slight drop of levels. How can I possibly get the waterlevels/the bacteria to work. It looks like the bacteria are just not doing anything. Its weird because the cleanup crew and corals are doing good. I really could use some help.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Update: Rip one fish. The other one is also not doing great. Nitrate is skyhigh. Way above 4mg/L. Ammonia is 0,25. One clown died of some swimbladder issue i think. It looks like the second might be the same. I'm out of ideas. I did many waterchanges over the last couple of weeks bus none of them resulted in even a slight drop of levels. How can I possibly get the waterlevels/the bacteria to work. It looks like the bacteria are just not doing anything. Its weird because the cleanup crew and corals are doing good. I really could use some help.

Neither Nitrite or Nitrate killed the fish.

You have a problem somewhere else.

How did you quarantine and acclimate the fish?

 

[Jurian.G]

Neither Nitrite or Nitrate killed the fish.

You have a problem somewhere else.

How did you quarantine and acclimate the fish?

Nothing special. The store had them already kinda quarantined with no other fish in their tank. I acclimated them by just putting the bag in the water to get them used to the temperature. No dripping.

 

[brandon429]

That’s not how to acclimate. See the disease forum

your issue has nothing to do with cycling nor bacteria. It could easily be disease as well, you’re skipping quarantine and fallow / doing it yourself

part of using quarantine at home correctly handles acclimation too. You’d receive them into a qt system that matches salinity from the pet store which is low

then over a few days you’d raise it, vs several minutes.

 

[brandon429]

When you study the disease forum you will see a majority of help posts on any page are from systems under 8 mos old, your tank is in this group too. Don’t buy fish until you can accept them correctly, fallow and qt yourself, at home.

 

[Jurian.G]

That’s not how to acclimate. See the disease forum

your issue has nothing to do with cycling nor bacteria. It could easily be disease as well, you’re skipping quarantine and fallow / doing it yourself

part of using quarantine at home correctly handles acclimation too. You’d receive them into a qt system that matches salinity from the pet store which is low

then over a few days you’d raise it, vs several minutes.

You're definitely right. Since I'm new I partially copy from experienced people. For example a friend of mine who has been in the hobby for a long time says that quarantine is not really necessary. He's never done it and has no issues. They also say it at the store. So for a newbe its really confusing because everyone says something different. But I'm sure quarantining fish is the best way to prevent disease and all. All in all I'm learning every day