1st signs of Nitrite????

NickBee · #1 01/16/2007, 09:55 PM

Our tank is about a month and a half old now. Never saw a huge spike of ammonia or Nitrate while cycling. Ammonia / Nitrate and Nitrite have been 0 for the last 3 weeks. We did a substrate change this past weekend along with a 10% water change (crushed coral came out, Samoa Pink sand went in). I ran tests tonight to make sure we didn’t disturb the water chemistry….

Tonight’s results:

Ammonia – 0
Nitrate – 0
PH – 8.4
Nitrite - .25
Oxygen – 7 (this test kit came in today, 1st time measuring)
SG – 1.023
Temp – 77

The tank is a 75 Gal fish only with about 100 lbs of live rock. We are running a sump with skimmer.

Is this 1st sign of Nitrite OK? Should any measures be taken yet? Of course I’ll keep an eye on it over the next few days.

Livestock:
1 Small Coral Beauty
2 Small clowns
1 Blue Toby
1 long nose hawk
1 blue damsel
1 CB shrimp
6 Snails

Thanks!

dwculp · #2 01/16/2007, 10:06 PM

Changing the substrate could have caused another mini-cycle?

Nitrite can be MORE toxic to SW fish than ammonia. Keep an eye on it and do water changes to keep it under control, provided your test kit is accurate and you actually have nitrite showing up.

NickBee · #3 01/16/2007, 10:10 PM

Ya DW I was thinking the same thing. The crushed coral did not have too much junk in it, but there was some.

What would you guys/gals recommend for water changes at this point?

Thanks!

NickBee · #4 01/16/2007, 11:06 PM

Also I’m not sure if this matters but the LR was covered with sand dust for about a day while everything was settling. We cleaned everything off with a turkey baster yesterday.

Thanks again!

bertoni · #5 01/17/2007, 02:07 AM

Nitrite is not toxic in the saltwater environment. Nitrite is toxic in freshwater aquariums, which is probably where all the worrying started.

I'd ignore the nitrite level, personally.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php

sean2sean · #6 01/17/2007, 02:11 AM

hm intersting info!

dwculp · #7 01/17/2007, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bertoni
Nitrite is not toxic in the saltwater environment. Nitrite is toxic in freshwater aquariums, which is probably where all the worrying started.

I'd ignore the nitrite level, personally.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php

Jonathan is in fact correct, I dont know what I was thinking last night. I was sick as a dog and not thinking straight!

Thanks for correcting me!

NickBee · #8 01/17/2007, 10:04 AM

OK,, so I won’t panic yet

I’ll check the levels again tonight and see what happens.

Should I wait until the Nitrite level gets back to 0 before adding another fish? I wanted to add a diamond goby soon to sift the sand.

Thanks Again Guys!

brandonst878 · #9 01/17/2007, 11:20 AM

Sounds like you have enough LR so that the problem should dissipate quicly. That much rock probably also explains the short initial cycle.

NickBee · #10 01/17/2007, 11:53 AM

Ya my guess is taking out the crushed coral and mixing things up raised the ammonia then nitrite in the system. I'll post the results from tonight's test.

NickBee · #11 01/17/2007, 08:55 PM

Tonight’s reading of nitrite looks a little better. Almost like the color is between the 0 and .25 color chips. I’ll keep an eye on it over the next few days.

Thanks again!

bertoni · #12 01/18/2007, 01:08 AM

I'd wait for three weeks of zero ammonia before adding any animals.

NickBee · #13 01/18/2007, 10:02 AM

ammonia has been zero for the last month...

bertoni · #14 01/18/2007, 04:13 PM

You could add a cleanup crew. If ammonia has been zero for a month, there might be a problem with the nitrite test kit. Worth a second opinion, if that's not too hard.

Icefire · #15 01/18/2007, 05:03 PM

He already have 6 fish in 6 weeks of starting the tank....
Kinda quick imo

NickBee · #16 01/18/2007, 05:15 PM

Clean up crew right now is 6 snails and an CB shrimp. Going to add a diamond goby once I know water is ok...

NickBee · #17 01/24/2007, 09:34 AM

After a day and a half of hitting the search button it finally worked! I was able to find this post again!

Ammonia / Nitrates / Nitrites are all at 0 now! I guess some type of mini cycle got kicked up when we did the sand swap.

Thanks again for the feedback!

dwculp · #18 01/24/2007, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NickBee
After a day and a half of hitting the search button it finally worked! I was able to find this post again!

Ammonia / Nitrates / Nitrites are all at 0 now! I guess some type of mini cycle got kicked up when we did the sand swap.

Thanks again for the feedback!

One thing you can do is goto the "My RC" page (button at the top) and you can view all of the threads you have posted in.

NickBee · #19 01/24/2007, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dwculp
One thing you can do is goto the "My RC" page (button at the top) and you can view all of the threads you have posted in.

Thanks DW! That made my day!