So, I migrated over to saltwater from freshwater and am currently waiting for my 100 gallon tank to finish cycling.
I cycled using 5 dead shrimp I bought from a supermarket. After about 5 days of them rotting in my tank my Ammonia finally started to show up and when it hit 8ppm on around day 7 I removed the shrimp. Ammonia stayed at 8 for about 5 more days. Nitrites finally showed up, skyrocketed to 5+ppm (very, very deep purple, like...off the charts), and then after about 12 days into the cycle, Nitrates showed up. They hit 20ppm and have dropped back down to around 5-10ppm.
Just yesterday (day 14) my Ammonia finally went back to zero. However, my Nitrite is still 5+ppm (deep purple) and my Nitrates are around 5-10ppm still.
My question is this:
Is it safe to put fish in with Nitrite and Nitrate still present? I've read a lot of conflicting opinions on this, but most of the science based info I have come across indicates that Trites and Trates are neglible to saltwater tanks.
Apparently Trites are as high as 100ppm in ocean reefs and Trates merely lead to algae blooms, which can be taken care of with some Chaeto, from what I understand.
Any input on this?
Here's just one article (good, in my opinion) that outlines what I've said here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/
And some more:
Nitrite-
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php
Nitrate-
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/8/chemistry
I'd really like to add some Chaeto, a shrimp or two, and a couple of fish in the next week.
Thanks!
I cycled using 5 dead shrimp I bought from a supermarket. After about 5 days of them rotting in my tank my Ammonia finally started to show up and when it hit 8ppm on around day 7 I removed the shrimp. Ammonia stayed at 8 for about 5 more days. Nitrites finally showed up, skyrocketed to 5+ppm (very, very deep purple, like...off the charts), and then after about 12 days into the cycle, Nitrates showed up. They hit 20ppm and have dropped back down to around 5-10ppm.
Just yesterday (day 14) my Ammonia finally went back to zero. However, my Nitrite is still 5+ppm (deep purple) and my Nitrates are around 5-10ppm still.
My question is this:
Is it safe to put fish in with Nitrite and Nitrate still present? I've read a lot of conflicting opinions on this, but most of the science based info I have come across indicates that Trites and Trates are neglible to saltwater tanks.
Apparently Trites are as high as 100ppm in ocean reefs and Trates merely lead to algae blooms, which can be taken care of with some Chaeto, from what I understand.
Any input on this?
Here's just one article (good, in my opinion) that outlines what I've said here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/
And some more:
Nitrite-
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php
Nitrate-
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/8/chemistry
I'd really like to add some Chaeto, a shrimp or two, and a couple of fish in the next week.
Thanks!