Very high Nitrates after Cycle (400+?)

[Moltenchicken]

My 15g tank's cycle finished over the weekend. I used Dr Tim's One and Only and Dr Tim's Ammonia to perform the cycle. This has been the only thing added to the tank. and 1 tiny hermit when i mistakenly thought my cycle was over the first time(RIP). I added maybe 10 caps full of One and Only and 150 drops of ammonia total. I actually added 50 drops 3 times following the guide in this thread but adjusting for 4 drops instead of 1.

Proper use of Dr Tim's and adding livestock

Nitrates were over 100 per my salifert test kit so I did a large water change of 10 gallons. I estimate that this was 75 to 80% of total water volume.

After the water change Nitrates were still reading over 100. According to my math this would have meant that Nitrates were over 400 to start with.

The water I used was from my LFS so i tested that and there were no nitrates. I mixed a test sample of the same water but added the salt I am using and there were no nitrates. So I do not believe that is the cause.

Is this even possible with what I added? The freshly mixed water I added was about 1 degree higher than what was removed and the rocks were exposed for 5 to 10 minutes before the water level returned to normal. The sand was disturbed slightly when adding the new water but it had been rinsed well prior to being added to the tank and had only been in there for a few weeks. Could any of those be the issue?

I plan on doing another smaller water change with water that is closer to tank temperature today. Should I just keep doing changes until it goes down? I am not adding anything to the tank at this point.

 

[CNDReef]

It’s 4 drops per gallon 150 drops / 4 per gallon is for a 37.5 gallon tank

 

[BeejReef]

Nitrates can go crazy high. You're in off-the-scale territory, so who knows if you were actually at 400 or something a little less fantastic. I believe I was 200+ post cycle. It's no worry. Water change it down, or start up your fuge or preferred nitrate export system.

Also, a barely detectable nitrite level will show as crazy high nitrate as well.

 

[Moltenchicken]

It’s 4 drops per gallon 150 drops / 4 per gallon is for a 37.5 gallon tank

Steps I took in terms adding Dr Tim's One and Only and Ammonia

Step 1 : Add Dr Tim's One and Only and 50 drops ammonia
Step 2 : Waited for Ammonia and Nitrite to go down to 1. Added 50 more drops ammonia
Step 3 : Waited for Ammonia and Nitirite to go down to 0.2. Added 50 more drops of ammonia

After step 3 ammonia and nitrite were reduced to zero within 24 hours. This whole process took a few weeks.

Nitrates can go crazy high. You're in off-the-scale territory, so who knows if you were actually at 400 or something a little less fantastic. I believe I was 200+ post cycle. It's no worry. Water change it down, or start up your fuge or preferred nitrate export system.

Also, a barely detectable nitrite level will show as crazy high nitrate as well.

OK, its good to know that its possible nitrates can get that high and can be corrected with just water changes. I only say I was over 400 because i changed at least 75% of the water and still am over 100. 75% of 400 is 100 so i figured i have to high at least that high for the test to still show me that after the water change.

I figure I cant be barely detectable because I measured the saltwater mixture as a control and it was not reading crazy high. The tank would have more nitrate than the new water because I didn't remove 100%.

 

[BeejReef]

Maybe it's not ideal, but you're in a better spot than if you ended up with 30 nitrates. You KNOW your bacteria are working, and have been for some time. Plus, on a smaller tank with no corals, fish, or stability concerns, you're only ever one or two big water changes from perfect parameters.

 

[CNDReef]

I believe the second dose is 1/2 of the first and you keep repeating until your nitrite goes to zero then you give it a full dose again to see if it consumes it in 24 hours. I just started cycling rock this weekend with it and 2 days later the ammonia was still 2 ppm so I just left it alone. It’s my first time trying a fishless cycle so I’m kinda hoping I understood those directions as well lol

 

[Moltenchicken]

Maybe it's not ideal, but you're in a better spot than if you ended up with 30 nitrates. You KNOW your bacteria are working, and have been for some time. Plus, on a smaller tank with no corals, fish, or stability concerns, you're only ever one or two big water changes from perfect parameters.

Cool Cool Cool. I do some water changes over the next few days and keep testing.

I believe the second dose is 1/2 of the first and you keep repeating until your nitrite goes to zero then you give it a full dose again to see if it consumes it in 24 hours. I just started cycling rock this weekend with it and 2 days later the ammonia was still 2 ppm so I just left it alone. It’s my first time trying a fishless cycle so I’m kinda hoping I understood those directions as well lol

Maybe that is where I went wrong. The link in my original post said add 2ppm not a half dose but that was from 2014 so maybe its not accurate anymore. It took about 2 and a half weeks for me to see any change. It just sat between 1.5 and 2 after the initial 50 drops.

 

[CNDReef]

I checked mine yesterday at the 3 day mark and had no change in ppm. Hopefully today it’ll be better

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Cool Cool Cool. I do some water changes over the next few days and keep testing.



Maybe that is where I went wrong. The link in my original post said add 2ppm not a half dose but that was from 2014 so maybe its not accurate anymore. It took about 2 and a half weeks for me to see any change. It just sat between 1.5 and 2 after the initial 50 drops.

I wouldn't. I expect it is nitrite giving a false high nitrate reading.

You cannot get 400 ppm nitrate from a few ppm ammonia.

 

[Moltenchicken]

I wouldn't. I expect it is nitrite giving a false high nitrate reading.

You cannot get 400 ppm nitrate from a few ppm ammonia.

I thought that it would be tough to get it that high from what I added. I do not think that my nitrites even measured above 1 though. Is it possible for the nitrite test to read low but Nitrates read high due to nitrates?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If nitrate is high and nitrite very low, the kits can read that correctly.

 

[Moltenchicken]

If nitrate is high and nitrite very low, the kits can read that correctly.

So should I just wait to see if it goes down? Anything to watch for?