New Tank - Nitrites

[Manos]

Hey fellow reefers!
Let me ask you some things I'm concerned about.
The tank is 2 months 11 days in, two weeks ago I introduced 3 chromis viridis, and one week ago I introduced 1 boxer shrimp, 3 nassarius snails and 1 starfish.
I also introduced 2 zoanthids frags, one with 3 polyps and 1 with 4 polyps. Everyone seems happy in the tank, they are eating constantly ( I control feeding though...)
an the zoas are open or closed, they are not contstantly opened...
My concern is that my measurements, which I do every single day, are : ammonia at zero, nitrites at 0.02 all the time for the last 5 days, and the nitrates are getting higher
and today they are at 20ppm.
Should I do something for the nitrites or the levels are low for the moment?
Should I introduce some bottle bacteria?
Change some water?
As I said everyone's seems happy in there for the moment!
Thank you.

 

[Dempsey941]

I'm thinking your system is trying to catch up with the bio load you have added over the past couple of weeks.

When in doubt do a waterchange.

 

[Azedenkae]

Hey fellow reefers!
Let me ask you some things I'm concerned about.
The tank is 2 months 11 days in, two weeks ago I introduced 3 chromis viridis, and one week ago I introduced 1 boxer shrimp, 3 nassarius snails and 1 starfish.
I also introduced 2 zoanthids frags, one with 3 polyps and 1 with 4 polyps. Everyone seems happy in the tank, they are eating constantly ( I control feeding though...)
an the zoas are open or closed, they are not contstantly opened...
My concern is that my measurements, which I do every single day, are : ammonia at zero, nitrites at 0.02 all the time for the last 5 days, and the nitrates are getting higher
and today they are at 20ppm.
Should I do something for the nitrites or the levels are low for the moment?
Should I introduce some bottle bacteria?
Change some water?
As I said everyone's seems happy in there for the moment!
Thank you.

If your nitrites is constantly low at 0.02 everyday I would not worry about it.

 

[Garf]

Nitrites are low enough to be insignificant. You may as well keep monitoring though

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Nitrites are non-toxic in a marine setups. WC can be done for nitrate levels to bring them down to around 10 ppm. Also stop using API tests if you are.

 

[Manos]

Im with Salifert and hanna for testing!
Should I be worried for the nitrates level?
Where should I consider a WC a must do? At what levels? 40? 50?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I do a water change about every two weeks. Habits are important and so I would set a frequency like weekly but any level above 25 ppm increases the risk of inverts dying off and really should target 5-10 ppm or less.

Stop testing nitrite, it means nothing after the cycle. I also see no value in regularly testing for ammonia as I have a good sense of looking at my tank and knowing if everything is dead or not.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Im with Salifert and hanna for testing!
Should I be worried for the nitrates level?
Where should I consider a WC a must do? At what levels? 40? 50?

Water changes are more about removing stuff like heavy metals and replacing elements that are depleted by coral consumption. If you have excessive nutrients yes they will help with that but it doesn’t sound like you’re in that situation so I’d let it ride. I typically measure alk and pH for the best indication of tank performance.

 

[Manos]

I do a water change about every two weeks. Habits are important and so I would set a frequency like weekly but any level above 25 ppm increases the risk of inverts dying off and really should target 5-10 ppm or less.

Stop testing nitrite, it means nothing after the cycle. I also see no value in regularly testing for ammonia as I have a good sense of looking at my tank and knowing if everything is dead or not.

Well I do test ammonia just to see if it rises so I can transfer the poor animals to the quarantine tank and not die, if I can do that in time...

 

[LegendaryCG]

Well I do test ammonia just to see if it rises so I can transfer the poor animals to the quarantine tank and not die, if I can do that in time...

Once your cycled and assuming you aren‘t adding a bunch of things or have a major die off occur you don’t need to measure ammonia.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Not hurting anything but the chances of catching an ammonia spike during a test are slight and the chances of not visually seeing the stress ammonia is causing to fish as you collect your water sample is tiny.

 

[Manos]

Ok, got it! So ammonia is off the table! So as I can understand, more important is to observe the animals and if I can see some weird or not common behaviour then I should start worry! Right?

 

[Manos]

You didn't tell me your thoughts about WC, should I make one tomorrow? I thing that tomorrow nitrates will be at 25...

 

[Azedenkae]

Ok, got it! So ammonia is off the table! So as I can understand, more important is to observe the animals and if I can see some weird or not common behaviour then I should start worry! Right?

Pretty much. I mean personally I don't mind testing everything if I am gonna test something, because it does not really take that long, and I am someone who kinda just wants to know - even if it is obvious that there is nothing wrong lol. I keep on testing my aquarium and reading 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and then feel like 'yeah okay of course this is expected, my tank is fully cycled'. But I keep on getting worried and checking all three is the only way for me to get peace of mind lol.

But nah yeah, once your aquarium is fully cycled, at some point you might even have to worry about having not enough nitrogenous compounds (nitrates specifically). If you read through the forum, you'll see at some point people start to discuss how to actually add nitrate, rather than removing it lol.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I would plan for weekly water changes for 20% for the first 2 months and then adjust as your see fit.

 

[Manos]

Oh no! Really? Instead of worrying about how to low the nitrates there's gonna be a time where I will consider raising them? Holly Molly! Ill just add more fish then!!! LOL!
Well I'm on the same boat as you, I like to measure everything so to have piece of mind...

 

[Manos]

Allright then! 20% every week! I ll do that mate! TY guys!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

You should then also consider testing for Phosphates, Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium.

Also I am one of "those guys" that adds nitrate and phosphate regularly.

 

[Manos]

You should then also consider testing for Phosphates, Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium.

Also I am one of "those guys" that adds nitrate and phosphate regularly.

I do measure those as well, except magnesium... Is it a must do measurement? Should I buy one?

 

[brandon429]

Manos Ill tell you a secret I know you won't believe

not that the tests are bad, those tests above have been used in proofing threads for various cycling actions.

But specifically, unique to this aquarium and its dosing and timeframe, you should cease testing for six weeks and reef like luke did on the stinging planet holograms saber training run. you need intuit running right now, your testing regimen is exactly like checking a vehicle daily to see if all the oil drained out. there's a way to increase your enjoyment twenty fold

I promise you nothing will happen if you do exactly this. cease testing for six weeks, keep the thread updated with your water changes. do test for salinity and temp, and that's it.

Then in six weeks, consider your calcium, alk, phosphates and pH and nitrate.

Adding fish isn't a concern, you don't have to test for that, you are free to simply add fish in a cycled reef that's the truth. You have no ammonia issues, that's the truth. trust me, cease testing at all for six weeks watch how your reefing changes. we guide it right here live time.