New Tank - Ammonia down to 0 but Nitrite still up. Wait to add fish?

[finn5616]

Hey Everyone,

I've been reading a lot of threads and have learned so much already. I had a question that I seem to be reading two different recommendations on.

I started my tank 12 days ago (50 gallon tank with 10 gallon-ish sump).. added ammonia and nitrifying bacteria. Ammonia was up, and lowered throughout the past week and is now as close to 0 as I can tell from my test kit (red sea). Nitrite & Nitrate are still up.

My question is - do I do a water change now and add my first fish (was thinking 2 clowns), or wait for nitrites to naturally drop? Unless I'm confused (very possible), it seems like some people are suggesting waiting until nitrite is 0, and others are saying your salt-water tank is cycled when ammonia is 0.

If the process is more subtle than that and I'm missing something, please let me know.

Would love to have people weigh in, thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Due to interference/detoxifying effect with chloride ions, Ed Noga (a major fish disease vet) states that there has never been a clinical case of nitrite poisoning in marine aquariums - and I would agree with him.

That said, unless you are challenging your biofilter with a food source, it is probable that if you add fish now, the small colony of bacteria present will be overwhelmed and your ammonia level could rise and THAT is a problem.

Are you adding a food source currently? I use 1 ppm ammonium chloride daily for new tanks, other people add a bit of flake food, etc., but that is much less precise.

Jay


p.s. - I would strongly urge you to quarantine all new fish before adding them to your DT.

 

[finn5616]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Due to interference/detoxifying effect with chloride ions, Ed Noga (a major fish disease vet) states that there has never been a clinical case of nitrite poisoning in marine aquariums - and I would agree with him.

That said, unless you are challenging your biofilter with a food source, it is probable that if you add fish now, the small colony of bacteria present will be overwhelmed and your ammonia level could rise and THAT is a problem.

Are you adding a food source currently? I use 1 ppm ammonium chloride daily for new tanks, other people add a bit of flake food, etc., but that is much less precise.

Jay


p.s. - I would strongly urge you to quarantine all new fish before adding them to your DT.

I added ammonia provided by my LFS when I purchased the nitrifying bacteria from them. I have not added any other ammonia source since the first time.

So you are saying that beyond the initial ammonia seeding, and the week of bacteria dosing (used bottle's instructions), I need to keep adding ammonia source to build up biological filtration? If so, what source do you recommend?

I am trying to figure how how to make a quarantine tank work in my setup. That is not a battle I currently think I would win with my fiancée right now.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes - you need to add an ammonia source that is at least equivalent to the ammonia produced by the fish you are going to add. I've found that the 1 ppm dose of ammonium chloride works perfect for that - but I understand you won't have access to that. Protein is a primary source for ammonia. Heterotrophic bacteria break down the protein and release ammonia, that in turn is consumed by your beneficial bacteria and their population grows as a result. Food in = ammonia out. What I would do is crush up a small amount of flake food every day and add it to the tank - as much as you think two small clownfish would consume. Once this is digested by bacteria, the ammonia will peak again, then drop. Nitrite will likely drop by then as well. Keeping the tank at 82 degrees speeds up the process. Then, stop adding the flakes for at least 72 hours and if ammonia is still zero, then start adding fish. Time frame for this? Perhaps four weeks. There is no rushing things at this point....

jay

 

[brandon429]

Im curious to know this: how long on the bottle bac directions did it state the cycle would take

 

[finn5616]

Im curious to know this: how long on the bottle bac directions did it state the cycle would take

7 Days it seems.

 

[finn5616]

Yes - you need to add an ammonia source that is at least equivalent to the ammonia produced by the fish you are going to add. I've found that the 1 ppm dose of ammonium chloride works perfect for that - but I understand you won't have access to that. Protein is a primary source for ammonia. Heterotrophic bacteria break down the protein and release ammonia, that in turn is consumed by your beneficial bacteria and their population grows as a result. Food in = ammonia out. What I would do is crush up a small amount of flake food every day and add it to the tank - as much as you think two small clownfish would consume. Once this is digested by bacteria, the ammonia will peak again, then drop. Nitrite will likely drop by then as well. Keeping the tank at 82 degrees speeds up the process. Then, stop adding the flakes for at least 72 hours and if ammonia is still zero, then start adding fish. Time frame for this? Perhaps four weeks. There is no rushing things at this point....

jay

OK- thanks for all this. So are you saying my tank would not have cycled this way? Or I would have an ammonia problem once I added my first first, even if waiting for nitrite to drop?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hard to say - bacteria in a bottle products vary between companies and even between batches. If you start adding flake food and the ammonia stays rock solidly below 0.25 ppm, then your product worked and all is good. If the ammonia rises, you need to continue adding food until it drops. What you DON'T want to do is add fish and then see your ammonia rise!

Jay