Nitrites stuck above 2ppm for 2 weeks - cycle stuck?

RaymondNoodles

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I started cycling my 57g tank on 8/27 (19 days ago) with Brightwell Microbacter quick start and start XLM. I used dry rinsed sand and cured/dried marco rocks (curing was probably overkill but I wanted to make sure there were little to no phosphates. After soaking in RODI water for a few days, phosphate was .02.I let the rocks dry and spent the next month building the aquascape. Ammonia measured 2ppm on day 1 and gradually dropped to 0ppm on day 9. Nitrite gradually increased to 2-5ppm by day 9 where it reached it's peak and appears to have been stuck there ever since. So nitrite has been at least 2ppm for 10 days. I have 2 test kits for nitrite/ammonia - RedSea and API. RedSea only measures Nitrite up to 1ppm and I measured well beyond 1ppm since 9/3. With API it's very difficult to tell a difference between 2ppm and 5ppm, but I believe it's been somewhere between 2 and 5ppm.

Microbacter claims a typical cycle using this method is about 7 days.

On 9/8 (day 11) I added about 20 MarinePure Ceramic Biomedia 1 1/2 Spheres that were in the sump of my 20g established tank for a couple months to the sump of the new tank with hopes of adding some beneficial bacteria since I had used all of the Start XLM.

Per Brightewell's instructions:
"Although product can withstand elevated temperatures for short periods of time (a few days), for best longevity and highest potency, keep below 80°F and if possible, it will be best kept refrigerated at 50°F to much prolong shelf life."

For 1 month I stored the Start XLM around 68 degrees. Not sure who keeps their fridge at 50 degrees so that wasn't much of a feasible option for me, so I figured storing it in the basement which stays below 70 degrees with the AC on in the summer was the best option. Sounds like this is within reason although perhaps not optimal to prolong the life of the bacteria.

Is the cycle stuck? Should I do a water change? Leave it alone? Here are the most recent test results (ammonia is zero with both test kits).

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RaymondNoodles

RaymondNoodles

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Tank should be cycled in the sense that is can process ammonia which is what you care about. No reason to get hung up on nitrite numbers....whether accurate or not it won't hurt anything.
I am not too concerned about the nitrite since it’s only toxic to marine animals in massive quantities. I am concerned about nitrates which are showing 50ppm but I know nitrites will cause nitrate tests to show inflated numbers. So if I want to start the tank around 5ppm nitrate how much water should I change?
 

Crustaceon

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Throw a little fish food in the tank. You basically introduced bacteria into a nutrient desert. Feed the tank. Let it get a little funky. Keep dosing bacteria.
 

Crustaceon

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Flake, pellet, frozen or all of the above? How much is a little?
I'm old school when it comes to this. I cycled my 55g with a single raw cocktail shrimp. It sounds gross, but bacteria really takes off when it gets to decompose something. Take a ziplock bag and throw a "shrimp's worth" of flake/frozen/pellet into it (raw shrimp is the tried and true method for many here), leave the top of the bag wide open and rest the bag on the bottom. Dose a little beneficial bacteria and within 2-3 days the tank will cloud up. Let it do it's thing for a week while making sure the tank is sufficiently aerated. Once the water clears up on its own, remove the bag containing any remaining shrimp/food used for cycling while refraining from sniffing it. Test parameters the next day and they'll look a lot better.
 

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I'm old school when it comes to this. I cycled my 55g with a single raw cocktail shrimp. It sounds gross, but bacteria really takes off when it gets to decompose something. Throw about that much flake/frozen/pellet in the tank (raw shrimp is the tried and true method for many here), dose a little beneficial bacteria and within 2-3 days the tank will cloud up. Let it do it's thing for a week while making sure the tank is sufficiently aerated. Once the water clears up on its own, remove any remaining debris while refraining from sniffing it. Test parameters the next day and they'll look a lot better.


You are thinking of heterotrophic bacteria. These bacteria don't care about decomposing matter so long as there is the required substances
 

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I would also just add a pinch of fish food just in case the bacteria became limited by carbon. This is just a guess as I heard on here that microbacter cycling bacteria requires some organic carbon.
 

Crustaceon

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You are thinking of heterotrophic bacteria. These bacteria don't care about decomposing matter so long as there is the required substances
Either way, pretty much all bacteria being propagated are benefitting. Some bacteria cannot process nitrates directly and need and organic carbon source or nitrites. However, with an item as large as a shrimp, nitrites and then hopefully nitrates are going to be produced as a result of decomposition and biological processing as well, which fills that niche. I like to look at the ocean as an example of how things work in practicality, picturing whale falls, lots of fish poo and such and not so much pure nitrates, ammonia and carbon being added in our quasi-laboratory settings.
 
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RaymondNoodles

RaymondNoodles

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How does this chunk of Rods Reef frozen food look? Good size? Glad I only paid a few bucks for a pack of these media bags on Amazon lol

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KrisReef

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I am not too concerned about the nitrite since it’s only toxic to marine animals in massive quantities. I am concerned about nitrates which are showing 50ppm but I know nitrites will cause nitrate tests to show inflated numbers. So if I want to start the tank around 5ppm nitrate how much water should I change?
90% water change will get you close to 5ppm based upon your 50ppm nitrates in solution now.

50% water change results in 25ppm

doing a second 50% Water charge =12.5ppm
A third subsequent 50% would yield ~6.25%

so 1 90% wc will save a tankful of water and get your nitrates nearer to your 5ppm target.
Hth.

And stop feeding the tank, it’s cycled
 

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