Nitrogen cycle: nitrites stuck

[pepe33]

My 20 gallon tank has been cycling for 2 months and a half now, and somehow for 2 months ammonia was always there (1 ppm constant), i used a prawn and fish flakes for the first weeks and stopped because ammonia wasn't going away. only 2 weeks ago all the ammonia suddenly dropped to 0 and nitrites and nitrates were stupid high (100ppm, 500ppm). I immediately did a big water change to bring the nitrite levels down to 5ppm. now those levels haven't moved a bit. I added small pinches of fish food for 4 days and i never tested any ammonia.

i don't have an RODI system so i'm using tetra aquasafe.

other params:
Gh: 8°d
Kh: 20°d
ph: 8
Temp: 68f (i broke my thermometer, waiting for it to be shipped)
salinity: 1.021 (read that low salinity helped with bacterial growth)

thanks for the advice in advance!

 

[Quietman]

Getting a tank ready for fish doesn't take two months (which I'm sure you're aware of). Very likely you have the bacteria built up and there are other issues masking or not being interpreted correctly. Nitrites aren't toxic in seawater so not really a concern but their continued presence might indicate other issues.

API ammonia will almost never read zero (assuming you're using API). Between .5 and 1 ppm is what most people report when starting.

You could also have bad or out of date test kits. Check the dates. If you're using API, get a multitest strip kit to back it up as API tends to be a bit inconsistent for most folks. Tetra has good one for about $12. Down the line you can upgrade testing but I don't want to tell you to spend too much on better kit until you can assess what you're looking at.

Other things could be going on here that need to be addressed though before adding fish. Non-RODI water can have contaminants (Ammonia, Phosphate, Nitrates), test your source water first. Your LFS can help as well as your municipality (assuming city water). The water conditioner does not remove those contaminants.

Suspect RODI is in your future though (but check before investing). Very rare to see a successful reef without RODI unless next to ocean or unusually good source water.

 

[brandon429]

Well said. this is precisely why new cycling science does not test for nitrites.


your cycle was done forty days or more based on the surface area used, not based on common misreading test kits. Old cycling science has no rule other than wait months and months, no allowance for misreads, your cycle is done. Post a tank pic pls


your cycle was done on day thirty by feeding flakes alone, regardless of bottle bac used.

 

[Garf]

My 20 gallon tank has been cycling for 2 months and a half now, and somehow for 2 months ammonia was always there (1 ppm constant), i used a prawn and fish flakes for the first weeks and stopped because ammonia wasn't going away. only 2 weeks ago all the ammonia suddenly dropped to 0 and nitrites and nitrates were stupid high (100ppm, 500ppm). I immediately did a big water change to bring the nitrite levels down to 5ppm. now those levels haven't moved a bit. I added small pinches of fish food for 4 days and i never tested any ammonia.

i don't have an RODI system so i'm using tetra aquasafe.

other params:
Gh: 8°d
Kh: 20°d
ph: 8
Temp: 68f (i broke my thermometer, waiting for it to be shipped)
salinity: 1.021 (read that low salinity helped with bacterial growth)

thanks for the advice in advance!

Don’t think nitrite test kits go to 100ppm for us lot. I think there’s a testing error around here somewhere. Nitrates will read very high with nitrites however. Post a pic of your test and color chart bud.

 

[pepe33]

Well said. this is precisely why new cycling science does not test for nitrites.


your cycle was done forty days or more based on the surface area used, not based on common misreading test kits. Old cycling science has no rule other than wait months and months, no allowance for misreads, your cycle is done. Post a tank pic pls


your cycle was done on day thirty by feeding flakes alone, regardless of bottle bac used.

Well said. this is precisely why new cycling science does not test for nitrites.


your cycle was done forty days or more based on the surface area used, not based on common misreading test kits. Old cycling science has no rule other than wait months and months, no allowance for misreads, your cycle is done. Post a tank pic pls


your cycle was done on day thirty by feeding flakes alone, regardless of bottle bac used.

I'm not at home rn so can't take a picture, but how are you so sure that the test kits are misreading? My store gave me test strips.

 

[brandon429]

Fair question agreed here’s the proof

you did a fish food cycle and 100% of those are done by day thirty. None take longer, it’s what I study

here’s one recent example

Build Thread - My SPS Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15

Hi all. Long time member (I think I joined right around when R2R started or took off years ago) but got out of the hobby for about 6 years and now I am back! I don't see many build threads for the PM 15 (mostly the 25) so thought I'd share my journey here. This post will be a bit behind...

www.reef2reef.com

hey does your reef have normal amount of rocks and sand in it, no pic needed a description will do.


a common cycling chart shows also thirty days to completion. Not one cycling chart shows a sixty day option. Those strips simply cannot be used in reefing but many do anyway agreed.


where you are at: done cycling, select a fish disease prep method. Specifically dont buy pet store reef fish and add them to the ready tank, you must prep them first by reading the fish disease forum here at rtr and selecting one of the prep options. The cycle is fully done, even nitrite is ready here too (by day 25 on a cycling chart, no sixty day timelines exist)

 

[pepe33]

Fair question agreed here’s the proof

you did a fish food cycle and 100% of those are done by day thirty. None take longer, it’s what I study

here’s one recent example



hey does your reef have normal amount of rocks and sand in it

There's about a 4 cm substrate of gravel and i'm not sure about the weight of the rock, but i used caribsea's life rock (the purple one)

 

[brandon429]

Great

that will do fine. The surface area from that rock will handle the waste from fish added as it all sits right in the middle flow zone, the display, so it’s really powerful in addressing wastewater in the display swirling around.


Ive never once in reefing seen a cycler set up a tank using too little rock, so you’re fine. This cycle is done pls update when you add life, the final way we proof cycles isn’t with more non digital testing it’s with clear water and animals acting normally. In an uncycled tank it crashes, but in a cycled tank the fish swim and eat normally and the water stays clear.

once several days go by with life living normally in this ready tank, we can add this thread to page 21 of large study thread on cycle timing rules.

 

[brandon429]

Once your thread is updated with pics about a week after adding fish it can become a powerful entry thread to help others understand that reef cycles don’t stall. So many thousands of aquarists hesitantly buy more bacteria, over and over during these waits, in response to a parameter (nitrite) that we shouldn’t be testing in display tank reefing and especially with dip strips.


working summary in this thread:


old cycling science-hesitant, not deliberate, wants verified nitrite details further, not quite sure if tank is ready until next step verification is attained, if it comes by way of more non digital test kits that’s ok, as long as a test kit gives he go ahead. dependent on test kit for forward motion permission.


new cycling science- Quietman took two seconds to describe your entire cycle with total resolve, no hesitation no room for maybe / zero hesitation. A timeline factor was in his first sentence. No test for nitrite factored in assigning a start date, an exact cycle match was provided and objective measures were also added to close out this cycle.



there are no times in old cycling science where a test kit is allowed to be doubted, I like how old cycling science picks and chooses among stated params sometimes for right and wrong levels, they must be relaxing the rules.

 

[mdb_talon]

I'm not at home rn so can't take a picture, but how are you so sure that the test kits are misreading? My store gave me test strips.

Those test strips are about the least accurate thing you can use(assuming they are the ones with pads you dip in water and then just look at colors on pads).

We all have out own idea of essential equipment and generally i dont consider much truly essential, but I would recommend a new reefer with a new tank at least has their own quality nitrate kit.

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Getting a tank ready for fish doesn't take two months (which I'm sure you're aware of). Very likely you have the bacteria built up and there are other issues masking or not being interpreted correctly. Nitrites aren't toxic in seawater so not really a concern but their continued presence might indicate other issues.

API ammonia will almost never read zero (assuming you're using API). Between .5 and 1 ppm is what most people report when starting.

You could also have bad or out of date test kits. Check the dates. If you're using API, get a multitest strip kit to back it up as API tends to be a bit inconsistent for most folks. Tetra has good one for about $12. Down the line you can upgrade testing but I don't want to tell you to spend too much on better kit until you can assess what you're looking at.

Other things could be going on here that need to be addressed though before adding fish. Non-RODI water can have contaminants (Ammonia, Phosphate, Nitrates), test your source water first. Your LFS can help as well as your municipality (assuming city water). The water conditioner does not remove those contaminants.

Suspect RODI is in your future though (but check before investing). Very rare to see a successful reef without RODI unless next to ocean or unusually good source water.

Agreed!

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Those test strips are about the least accurate thing you can use(assuming they are the ones with pads you dip in water and then just look at colors on pads).

We all have out own idea of essential equipment and generally i dont consider much truly essential, but I would recommend a new reefer with a new tank at least has their own quality nitrate kit.

Agreed.