Nitrite levels?

[FishNewbie]

After many disasters over the last 3 months, my 75g seems like it's finally leveling out. My ammonia has been 0 for quite some time now, but I can't seem to get rid of the last bit of nitrites. Have skimmer going constantly, should I turn it off or keep it on? Also, went through Ich problem, bought UV sterilizer, turned on for a day, and nitrates dropped way down, nitrites rose. Is this normal? Am I right to assume that a UVS cannot be used till EVERYTHING is levelled out? HOW DO I GET RID OF THE NITRITES????

[ATLANTIS]

IMAReefAddict,
perhaps if you gave a little more background info people could help.
how old is you system?
bioload?
equipment?
what books have you read?


IN general, UV's do nothing for Ammonia, nitrate or nitrite... They are not often used on a reef tank anymore.

[Doug1]

Hmmmmmmm if you have unreadable Ammonia and readable nitrites that wont quit along with a radable nitrate level, I suspect tha accuracy of your test kits.
Running a UV sterilizer in its self shouldn,t cause nitrates to drop, though if you have a large bacteria population being killed off by the UV its possible to see a nitrite spike.
My experience has been that most hobby level kits are lacking in precision and at best adequate for charting trends. I recommend taking a water sample to a local fish store or two and see what results they come up with
Be skeptical