End of Cycling..Can I add a fish or two with Nitrates still high?

[emazz1]

I'm at the point of my cycle where Ammonia and Nitrate are 0ppm, but my nitrates are >160ppm. Did a 20% water change to dilute slightly, but it didn't move. Everything I've read says anaerobic bacteria colonization takes a long time (6-8 months). I started with live sand and a pre-established large biobrick. Used RODI water for all. Can I add a fish or two with nitrates this high or am I waiting for nitrates to come down? Should I be doing more water changes? Bacteria dosing with a product of some kind?

 

[Jekyl]

Get it taken care of now. It will only increase when fish are added and you'll be fighting an up hill battle.

 

[Jekyl]

Nitrate won't come down on their own. Change the water out and start fresh.

 

[theMeat]

Too high. Would get it down to at least half that before I thought about livestock

 

[Jekyl]

Don't start dosing things this early either. Practice good husbandry before looking for a miracle in a bottle. Change out most or all of the water and start with a clean slate. It will help with algae issues along the way.

Edit: manners....... Welcome to R2R!

 

[KevyKevTPA]

A refugium with cheato and proper lighting will help with the nitrates, but it's more of a longer-term solution. But I can tell you with mine, after a very short amount of time running it (a couple of weeks), both nitrites and nitrates were at 0 (or very close and within the accuracy of my testing kits)...

 

[KrisReef]

Have you ever walked into a public restroom and turned around at the door entrance because the air was so poor? Putting fish into a high nitrate recently cycled tank is like sending your immuno defficient child into that same toilet.

If you did a water change of 20 gallons and nitrate didn't budge then you must have a pretty nice sized system. You need to change half the water to lower nitrates by half.

The fish can handle the high nitrates, but they won't like it. What else do you want to put in the tank? If it is going to be fish only or if you want to have corals that will impact how much water you should change.

 

[emazz1]

Should I have added anything to my tank at the start of the cycle? An ammonia source? Anything’s?

 

[Jekyl]

Should I have added anything to my tank at the start of the cycle? An ammonia source? Anything’s?

Nope. As I said before do a large water change. 80% or more to get your nitrates to a manageable level. After that start with a fish or 2. They will be your ammonia source.

 

[ReefRusty]

As @jakyl stated. Change as much water as possible and your ready.

 

[theMeat]

As @jakyl stated. Change as much water as possible and your ready.

True. Don’t expect changing half the water to change half the nitrates tho. It doesn’t work that way. May need a few large water changes

 

[ReefGeezer]

Two 50% water changes back-to-back should get you in the 40ppm range. That'll ensure you are ready for more fish. Do big water changes carefully.

 

[1ocean]

I am in the process of building a sulfur/ aragonite reactor out of two used reef octopus reactors I picked up for like 90 bucks..total. to manage nitrates long term..
There is a lot of great information out there about this..