Nitrite Levels

[Ted]

Hey guys,

I tested my Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite levels.....and the Ammonia and Nitrate levels were fine...but the Nitrite levels were out of control....Deep Purple!!

I quickly did a 20% water change..went to the pet store and bought activated carbon and placed the carbon in the overflow skimmer........

the levels have dropped considerably BUT it still reads...dangerous....

do I have to be patient and let the carbon do the work? Do I do another water change? Is there anything else that I can do?

THanks for your anticipated help!

Ted

oh yea...I have one Damsel...no live rock...no live sand....a wet dry trickle filter with bio balls....and the tank has been running for almost 2 months...no algae outbreaks (yet)

[Demogarr]

Sounds like it is still cycling to me. This was a normal occurance for me in every tank I have set up and cycled. I cycled with a damsel because they tolerate the nitrite stress better, however I don't think I will ever use a fish to cycle a tank again, there are other methods. It will have to go through this spike in this phase of the cycle to build up the bacteria that feed on nitrites. It has been awhile since I have set up a new tank though, so you may want to do a search on this board on nitrite, cycles, new tanks, or something similar. Maybe someone else will have better advice.
Good Luck
Alan

[Allyson]

What is the actual nitrite reading? I'm still fairly new to the reef side of aquaria but I would think that cycling with only a single fish your nitrite levels should not be off the charts....or at least not for very long. What brand of test kit are you using? Some are not very reliable.

Allyson

[FishDaddy]

Ted,
Not too surprising to see your tank still cycling. With only one damsel in a 55, no substrate or LR, the only place to grow the de-nitrifying bacteria is your bio-balls. It does take time.
I would still recommend removing the Damsel; get a DSB in there and your Live Rock. Addition of a large amount of LR will likely trigger another cycle so again, wait until you are at that point to add fish, etc.
Dick

[tdwyatt]

would think that cycling with only a single fish your nitrite levels should not be off the charts....or at least not for very long

Actually, even with one fish, there would be significant accumulation of nitrite in a new system, even this far out from the initial start of the tank. The levels of substances in the water column depend not only on introduction of those substances into the water column, but on the rate of their elimination as well. Without the bacteria that metabolize the nitrite to nitrate, even the waste products of a single fish will accumulate in the tank to dangerous levels. Add to this the breakdown of leftover food and the proteins that are decomposing from dead or dieing organisms on the live rock, and you can get quite a significant load of ammonia that is being converted to nitrite. It is this accumulation of nitrite to significant levels that drives the multiplication of the bacteria that eliminate nitrite by converting it to nitrate, completing the mineralization of nitrogen on the aerobic side of the nitrogen cycle. Ultimately, it is necessary to have peaks of nitrate as well to drive the multiplication of the facultative and obligatory anaerobes that complete the nitrogen cycle in our tanks by converting nitrate to nitrogen gas. This nitrogen gas then bubbles off (usually out of the sand) and is removed from the water column altogether.

[Allyson]

Makes sense...I guess the reason I've not had such extreme levels of nitrites in my FW tanks (at least not for very long) is I've always added nitrifying bacteria to the water in a new setup...which I've also done with my reef.

Allyson

[Ted]

thanks guys. I was surprised because the ammonia levels never really spiked....then all of a sudden I had high nitrite levels....nitrate levels are perfect. I use a dry-tab test kit but I bought it (and the tabs) off of someone and it is a few years old. Maybe this is my problem! I'll get some new tabs! I originally had 2 damsels in the tank but the first didn't make it through the night! I've had the other in there for over a month.

So what you guys are saying is to be patient and let the cycle run through...or add live rock and this will really get the cycle going.

[GaryG]

Ted:

Guess what? Two weeks from now your Nitrite is going to be zero and your Nitrate is going to be "out of control".

Just let it go it's course and don't add any more life until it settles down. Nature has a funny way of fixing things.

[Fishaholic]

I just wanted to touch on something.

Many new aquarists feel they should do nothing during a cycle including water changes.

Water changes are most necesarry during a cycle.

The benificial bacteria is building and is unaffected by water changes because it is not in the water column. However the water is much less toxic if it is diluted. Many living things have been lost unnecessarily from lack of water changes.

Even when using live rock to cycle a tank you have much less die off if you do water changes.

Also the bacteria will need to be at a larger level when you start adding more living orginisms including all the critters that live in rock. If you complete the cycle without live rock you will need to be very patient and add the rock slowly to allow the bacteria to grow to support new levels of life with out starting a new cycle.


Good luck.