High nitrites!

[Max H.]

I’m not sure why but whenever I check my water levels the nitrites are high. Do I just need a water change? And what is the cause of high nitrites

 

[Saltyreef]

How old is the tank?
Why are you measuring for nitrites?
What test kit are you using and what value are you refering to as high?

 

[Jekyl]

I’m not sure why but whenever I check my water levels the nitrites are high. Do I just need a water change? And what is the cause of high nitrites

Excessive feeding, over population, lack of nutrient export, lack of water changes can all lead to high nitrate

 

[Garf]

I’m not sure why but whenever I check my water levels the nitrites are high. Do I just need a water change? And what is the cause of high nitrites

Do you mean nitrates or nitrite?

 

[Max H.]

Do you mean nitrates or nitrite?

Nitrite

 

[iMi]

If you mean nitrates, then regular water changes, proper skimming and carbon (won’t remove nitrates, but will remove excessive dissolved organic materials before they are broken down to become nitrates) would be the solution.


If you mean nitrites, then you‘ll need to figure out what’s wrong with your cycle. Those should always be zero.

 

[KrisReef]

Nitrite

The test kit is bad or your tank is missing the nitrite eating bacteria.

New tanks need to establish the bacteria as part of the cycle.

 

[Jekyl]

Excessive feeding, over population, lack of nutrient export, lack of water changes can all lead to high nitrate

Oops, misread nitrite as nitrate

 

[Yates273]

From what I understand nitrite in a saltwater tank not as bad as freshwater. When you say high what’s the #

 

[Max H.]

The test kit is bad or your tank is missing the nitrite eating bacteria.

New tanks need to establish the bacteria as part of the cycle.

Can you put bacteria in the tank if you already have fish in it?

 

[brandon429]

post a full pic of your tank

from that pic we can discern 100% of your cycle status, Ill bet. not from the levels you post, from the full tank pic.

because you have living fish, feeding well acting normal, you specifically would not add bacteria as your cycle isn't bad or they'd be dead. there are no half cycles

there is only cycled, can keep fish


or not cycled, and the whole tank dies in three days, there's no midground or half cycle or stalled cycle.


pics are about to show a completed cycle by the way :)
b

we have a thread running fifteen pages now on nitrite positive reefs and not one time did that ever indicate a stalled cycle in our huge work threads, the reefs went onward just fine.

even the few times we thought the test might be accurate (everyone accepts an api nitrite reading as infallible, in a world where most people debate api accuracy) we never cared about nitrite at all, its neutral impact in reefing. totally neutral param, stop testing for it permanently.

when the option comes out to buy a digital tester for nitrite, dont, we dont need to know its levels in any display tank reef at any time. we need to know your helium levels more than we need to know about nitrite.

 

[Max H.]

post a full pic of your tank

from that pic we can discern 100% of your cycle status, Ill bet. not from the levels you post, from the full tank pic.

because you have living fish, feeding well acting normal, you specifically would not add bacteria as your cycle isn't bad or they'd be dead. there are no half cycles

there is only cycled, can keep fish


or not cycled, and the whole tank dies in three days, there's no midground or half cycle or stalled cycle.


pics are about to show a completed cycle by the way :)
b

we have a thread running fifteen pages now on nitrite positive reefs and not one time did that ever indicate a stalled cycle in our huge work threads, the reefs went onward just fine.

 

[Garf]

Can you put bacteria in the tank if you already have fish in it?

Nitrite would need to be well off the charts to harm your fish. I would just monitor and enjoy your tank. They will drop, eventually, unless your test kit is kaput. Looks like you’ve got plenty of surface area.

 

[Max H.]

Nitrite would need to be well off the charts to harm your fish. I would just monitor and enjoy your tank. They will drop, eventually, unless your test kit is kaput. Looks like you’ve got plenty of surface area.

Ok thanks for helping me.

 

[brandon429]

nice setup i can see the fish swimming just fine mid level vs hovering near death at the top.

plus as MN mentioned recently that's very low bioload anyway, nothing is wrong with that tank.

curious about your rocks, they have an interesting detail we can't see in the blue reef light

can you take a full white light pic and post so we can see that rock detail in color/final shore up here.

 

[Azedenkae]

Can you put bacteria in the tank if you already have fish in it?

Yes.

Anyways, depending on your actual nitrite reading (which everyone is asking about), it's probably nothing to fret too much over anyways. Nitrite is non-toxic to marine fish until very high levels: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php

Still would not recommend getting it over 25ppm though. That's where in ocellaris clownfish, exposure can start leading to diseases.

 

[brandon429]

there are some shapes on that live rock that are atypical for white base rock, it looks like true live rock with growths on it is what Im wondering. (rounded edges on lower left side look like closed up zoanthids though they may not be...if anything wet or living was attached to that rock when it was brought home, that's skip cycle live rock)


either way its ok because Ill bet that tank has been setup and fed more than three days worth, that's retro proof of cycle done or dosed correctly at the start, or you might have bought skip cycle live rock to be determined.

testing these cycle claims is easy: get a paint bucket (clean) and input dry rocks and five gals saltwater, a pump, heater, feed the fish and check back in three days to see the outcome. if you run this test don't post publicly about it, just message me lol. the fish w be dead, the water smelly and gray and you'll feel guilty.

its very easy to find the discerning line between cycled, and not cycled. a color tube test kit cant make that distinction, they tend to tell you the cycled tanks still aren't ready yet.

 

[KrisReef]

The key to new tanks is to add livestock slowly as the bacteria get established. You don't need to add any more,

 

[iMi]

I would recommend you try a different test kit and go from there.

 

[Max H.]

nice setup i can see the fish swimming just fine mid level vs hovering near death at the top.

plus as MN mentioned recently that's very low bioload anyway, nothing is wrong with that tank.

curious about your rocks, they have an interesting detail we can't see in the blue reef light

can you take a full white light pic and post so we can see that rock detail in color/final shore up here.