Is it time to do a water change?

[kitti-fish]

I don't care for a fish-in cycle myself, even when using something like the Fritz TurboStart mentioned above (which is know to be a very fast-acting product). I would just give this a few more days to a week or so and with the ammonia. When your ammonia goes to nearly zero or less, you're in good shape to start slowly adding hardy livestock. There's no need to wait for the nitrite to go to zero, nitrite is non-toxic in marine aquaria (unlike in freshwater)

Thank you I’ll give it another week I’m waiting for the add ons anyways for this tank. Thank you!

 

[Fish Fan]

Thank you I’ll give it another week I’m waiting for the add ons anyways for this tank. Thank you!

I hope I've helped; good luck!!

 

[BonnieB]

Give it a chance to do its thing…patience doesn’t happen to be one of my virtues so it was a struggle to just let nature be nature for me…. But sooooo worth it in the end!!

 

[Should I]

What if the ammonia levels have been stuck at this level for a week? I’m used to them going down after a couple of days. That’s really my only concern. I’m happy to wait longer just never sure when starting a new tank.

then ur probs cycled most ammonia kits are incapable of reading 0ppm

 

[kitti-fish]

Give it a chance to do its thing…patience doesn’t happen to be one of my virtues so it was a struggle to just let nature be nature for me…. But sooooo worth it in the end!!

It’s not mine either. If you check out my build thread I have never been able to wait patiently. In the end it all works out.

 

[Fish Fan]

then ur probs cycled most ammonia kits are incapable of reading 0ppm

This is true, but the OP is seeing significant ammonia, not just a faint amount that some kits always seem to report. In this case, I believe the OP needs to wait for the ammonia to go down to nearly zero.

Thank you for your reply!

 

[KrisReef]

I am I am sorry I used stability to jump start my tank with dr Tim’s ammonia. So sorry it’s one of those days my brain doesn’t want to work

I let you borrow mine but it has the same issue.

I think this Sunday you wll find that the ammonia has dropped, but not to zero as that API kits is often not able to measure zero in a cycled tank. GL.

 

[kitti-fish]

I let you borrow mine but it has the same issue.

I think this Sunday you wll find that the ammonia has dropped, but not to zero as that API kits is often not able to measure zero in a cycled tank. GL.

I thought Friday was yesterday so I have my Saturday brain. Hopefully so! Would be nice to finally have my office tank up and running. Yes these API kits aren’t the most reliable but I’ll use it till it runs out and get something better next time.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I would also not dose prime. It just chemically locks ammonia in a non-toxic form for a while.

It does not lock or reduce or render harmless ammonia to any reasonable or useful level.. It is a proven marketing lie.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I recently started a new 10 gallon nano and am not sure if should go ahead and do a water change? I did do the fish less dry cycle. I used media from a previous tank to seed new rock and did a prime 7 day boost with dr Tim’s ammonia. However, the ammonia seems stagnant at 2.0 but the nitrite and nitrate are rising. Is it time to change out the water or am I going to mess up the cycle?

Don’t pour any more bottles of anything into the tank. Le the bacteria do its thing. If nothing else wait a few days and sprinkle a pinch of flake food in.

The more products that you pour in, the greater the chances of a stalled cycle due to heterotrophic bacteria outcompeting the nitrifiers.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I thought Friday was yesterday so I have my Saturday brain. Hopefully so! Would be nice to finally have my office tank up and running. Yes these API kits aren’t the most reliable but I’ll use it till it runs out and get something better next time.

You don’t need anything better. Don’t worry about nitrite or nitrate, just watch for ammonia to start going down.

 

[tinytidesnano]

Everything Bean said ;)

 

[KrisReef]

Everything Bean said ;)

Hear hear, More Bean's!

I will just mention now that I don't use ammonia test kits while reefing, as a nitrate test can generally provide the status of a cycle or N nutrient levels throughout the life of a reef tank, imo. Once a tank is cycled the ammonia level shouldn't again rise to levels that will harm the fish, at least under normal operational situations. Not that it isn't possible to have elevated ammonia following an extended power outtage or a fish death incident(s) but those situations are hopefully not common. I suggest that we don't really need an ammonia test kit to tell us to remove any dead fish or to perform a water change if /when something bad like this has happened. Sometimes tanks do get sideways, but the cloudy water and a slightly acrid smell in the air around the tank can also recommend the same course of action in these situations. No test is needed with routine observations, just change the water if it's not looking up to snuff or the fish are in distress.

Long way of saying, don't replace the ammonia test kit. The tank will cycle very soon and testing for ammonia won't be necessary unless perhaps you start dosing ammonia and want to verify those levels? Save the dough and buy fish or coral or food for them. :) If the tank looks cloudy and smells funny do a water change, it's just good practice.

I think I have said to much, and my hands are getting tired.

 

[kitti-fish]

Update: ammonia is down to .25 but nitrite and nitrate are up to .5 or 1 and 80ppm. At this point I’m not sure if I should go ahead and do a water change? I know most would say to wait till nitrite is 0 but I’m being a little impatient as my lone male clown is being bullied by his new female friend and I really would like to transfer him

 

[Garf]

point I’m not sure if I should go ahead and do a water change?

The advice to do a water change at this point has always seemed a bit odd to me. Your nitrate isn't really that high because of the nitrite interference with the nitrate test. That being said, waterchanges never hurt, if done correctly. You appear safe to add Mr Clown.

 

[kitti-fish]

The advice to do a water change at this point has always seemed a bit odd to me. Your nitrate isn't really that high because of the nitrite interference with the nitrate test. That being said, waterchanges never hurt, if done correctly. You appear safe to add Mr Clown.

When you mean done correctly do you mean small amount of water change? I was thinking a 10%, then add clown, and then weekly 10-15% depending on bioload. For now, it will only be the clown and eventually CUC when diatoms and algae start accumulating.

 

[Garf]

When you mean done correctly do you mean small amount of water change? I was thinking a 10%, then out clown, and then weekly 10-15% depending on bioload. For now, it will only be the clown and eventually CUC when diatoms and algae start accumulating.

Sounds good. Happy reefing.

 

[Fish Fan]

When you mean done correctly do you mean small amount of water change? I was thinking a 10%, then add clown, and then weekly 10-15% depending on bioload. For now, it will only be the clown and eventually CUC when diatoms and algae start accumulating.

As always, @Garf is spot on here, I'd listen to their advice. I agree, you seem like you're in good shape to add your Clownfish with or without a water change at this point.

As mentioned, you don't really know what your nitrate concentration is because of nitrite in the water at this time. When your nitrite goes down, then you can more accurately test for nitrate.

Keep in mind, nitrite is not toxic in marine aquaria (like it is in freshwater) and there's no need to let that go to zero before adding your Clown. Waiting for nitrite to go to zero is old-school advice from freshwater fish keeping. The only impact nitrite has on your tank is the fact that it shows up as very high nitrate, making nitrate testing inaccurate at this point.

In regard to water changes, I believe what at Garf meant by "correctly" is that best practice is to have a separate bucket or Brute garbage pail or another reef safe container, add to that a small heater and circulation pump or powerhead, and you can premix your saltwater before doing a water change. If you match your water change water to the same temperature, salinity, and ideally alkalinity, you can safely change out a much larger percentage of water. I personally haven't experienced any ill-effects when changing out as much as 80%+ of the water, as long as at least temp and salinity match the tank's water. I don't do huge water changes like that all the time, but for the times I've done them, it hasn't been a problem.

So forgetting about the nitrite interference that's going on here, let's say you really do have a nitrate concentration of 50 ppm. If you do a 10% water change, you will remove 10% of the nitrate, which would leave you with 45 ppm; not a whole lot different. If you changed out 50% of the water, you'd remove 50% of the nitrate, leaving you with a level of 25 ppm nitrate. 10% water changes are great for regular, weekly maintenance, but if you were looking to do a water change to lower your nitrates (which I don't think you have to do), I would change out much more than 10%.

I hope that makes sense and I hope that helps! Let us know if you have other questions.

@Garf if you disagree with response, please let me know!

 

[Garf]

As always, @Garf is spot on here, I'd listen to their advice. I agree, you seem like you're in good shape to add your Clownfish with or without a water change at this point.

As mentioned, you don't really know what your nitrate concentration is because of nitrite in the water at this time. When your nitrite goes down, then you can more accurately test for nitrate.

Keep in mind, nitrite is not toxic in marine aquaria (like it is in freshwater) and there's no need to let that go to zero before adding your Clown. Waiting for nitrite to go to zero is old-school advice from freshwater fish keeping. The only impact nitrite has on your tank is the fact that it shows up as very high nitrate, making nitrate testing inaccurate at this point.

In regard to water changes, I believe what at Garf meant by "correctly" is that best practice is to have a separate bucket or Brute garbage pail or another reef safe container, add to that a small heater and circulation pump or powerhead, and you can premix your saltwater before doing a water change. If you match your water change water to the same temperature, salinity, and ideally alkalinity, you can safely change out a much larger percentage of water. I personally haven't experienced any ill-effects when changing out as much as 80%+ of the water, as long as at least temp and salinity match the tank's water. I don't do huge water changes like that all the time, but for the times I've done them, it hasn't been a problem.

So forgetting about the nitrite interference that's going on here, let's say you really do have a nitrate concentration of 50 ppm. If you do a 10% water change, you will remove 10% of the nitrate, which would leave you with 45 ppm; not a whole lot different. If you changed out 50% of the water, you'd remove 50% of the nitrate, leaving you with a level of 25 ppm nitrate. 10% water changes are great for regular, weekly maintenance, but if you were looking to do a water change to lower your nitrates (which I don't think you have to do), I would change out much more than 10%.

I hope that makes sense and I hope that helps! Let us know if you have other questions.

@Garf if you disagree with response, please let me know!

I would only add that the ammonia to nitrate ratio from nitrification is 1:3.6ish. so if 4ppm ammonia has been added to a totally dry rock / sand tank, then a nitrate level of not more than 15 ppm is possible.

 

[kitti-fish]

Thank you for all your help. I did a slightly bigger water change so the nitrites and nitrates significantly dropped. So far, little clown is doing okay. I am hoping him being a lone clown will help him get a little stronger as his mate shredded his right fin.