Tank will not process nitrites

[gabedickerson7]

My 30 gallon saltwater tank will not cycle. Today is 7/31 and I started 6/18 which is about 6 weeks. I started it off with 35 pounds of Carib sea life rock, 10 pounds of Carib Sea Arag Alive sand, 20 pounds of not alive Carib Sea sand, a fish, fritz RPM salt, and Seachem Prime water conditioner. I tried to do fish in cycle I saw on online but the fish sadly died within a couple days and I removed it immediately. Everything seemed to be going good according to cycle charts and I had only done one water change during the cycle because the nitrites and nitrates were through the roof and I was dosing with prime according to the bottle. I added a rock from an established tank and started using Seachem Stability over a week and the nitrites started going down to 0.2 ppm and the ammonia was at 0 ppm I did about a 50% water change today and now I just tested a couple hours later and the nitrites shot back up to 1 ppm. I am using a Red Sea testing kit which should be accurate I just don’t know what to do at this point.
My salinity is at 1.026, Alkalinity 9 dKh, and pH 8.2. This has been consistent throughout the cycle.

 

[blaxsun]

1ppm nitrates is perfectly fine. In fact, 10-15ppm nitrates is also totally acceptable for an established tank (mine have gone up well over 40ppm with no ill effects). Are you using RODI for water?

 

[gabedickerson7]

1ppm nitrates is perfectly fine. In fact, 10-15ppm nitrates is also totally acceptable for an established tank (mine have gone up well over 40ppm with no ill effects). Are you using RODI for water?

I was talking about 1ppm nitrites… nitrates are still high but not my main concern at the moment.

 

[blaxsun]

I was talking about 1ppm nitrites… nitrates are still high but not my main concern at the moment.

Sorry - you're always going to have some nitrites in your tank as well, as the process is ammonia » nitrites » nitrates. What are your nitrate levels? And I wouldn't necessarily be performing 50% water changes during cycling (10% every 2 weeks post-cycle is fine).

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I wouldn't use Seachem Prime during cycling because that binds the ammonia which is going to stop it from converting to Nitrite then Nitrate. Skip the water changes. Best thing is to put a small pinch of flake food in your tank every day for 2 weeks with your initial dose of Seachem Stability. Don't bother testing until the two weeks is up. Then test and take a sample also to your LFS for a double check. Don't use API tests. Hopefully, after that you should be good to go. Best thing is to be patient in this hobby. Go slow with adding fish. Nothing good happens quickly. Also, take a look at this process on Bulk Reef Supply's videos on Youtube. They have a wealth of info on reefing.

 

[gabedickerson7]

I wouldn't use Seachem Prime during cycling because that binds the ammonia which is going to stop it from converting to Nitrite then Nitrate. Skip the water changes. Best thing is to put a small pinch of flake food in your tank every day for 2 weeks with your initial dose of Seachem Stability. Don't bother testing until the two weeks is up. Then test and take a sample also to your LFS for a double check. Don't use API tests. Hopefully, after that you should be good to go. Best thing is to be patient in this hobby. Go slow with adding fish. Nothing good happens quickly. Also, take a look at this process on Bulk Reef Supply's videos on Youtube. They have a wealth of info on reefing.

Ok I have hikari small pellets will that work?

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Yes but you don't need much.

 

[Spare time]

Sorry - you're always going to have some nitrites in your tank as well, as the process is ammonia » nitrites » nitrates. What are your nitrate levels? And I wouldn't necessarily be performing 50% water changes during cycling (10% every 2 weeks post-cycle is fine).

There shouldn't be nitrites constantly able to be detected.

 

[Spare time]

I wouldn't use Seachem Prime during cycling because that binds the ammonia which is going to stop it from converting to Nitrite then Nitrate. Skip the water changes. Best thing is to put a small pinch of flake food in your tank every day for 2 weeks with your initial dose of Seachem Stability. Don't bother testing until the two weeks is up. Then test and take a sample also to your LFS for a double check. Don't use API tests. Hopefully, after that you should be good to go. Best thing is to be patient in this hobby. Go slow with adding fish. Nothing good happens quickly. Also, take a look at this process on Bulk Reef Supply's videos on Youtube. They have a wealth of info on reefing.

Seachem advertises it to not prevent the conversion (then again, it's seachem)

 

[blaxsun]

There shouldn't be nitrites constantly able to be detected.

I suspect the Seachem is playing a part in OP's tank.

But I can always test for and detect some nitrites in my tank (regardless of how well it's performing). The fact that my ammonia is always at zero and that nitrites are readily converted with my bio media is the reason I don't test for them anymore.