High nitrates

[AKReefing]

you are still cycleying

We agree with you.

 

[Charles Zinn]

No, the high nitrate levels were present before the fish were added, when there was only water in the tank. The problem is not related to food.

At a certain point, it’s actually better to have fish because they help strengthen the nitrogen cycle. Also, it's important to note that the cycle is continuous, so defining it as "fully cycled" can be a bit misleading.

I don't think there’s a need to introduce a refugium or algae scrubber for a tank of this size with only three fish at this time. It’s something to consider for the future, but not a priority right now.

Where did you grt rock from and did you Cook it in a container of saltwater with flow and for how long? Could be leachung from rock?

 

[Charles Zinn]

Nitrites are not toxic in what we test for fish and such. Look up @Randy Holmes-Farley in the search with nitrites.

My tank started day 1 with an elegance coral and nothing else in tank lol. I added another coral and then shrimp and such. Never tested. But I also do 100 percent water changes weekly.

There is many ways to cycle. Just check out some of his responses. Wish I had link to the thread he created on this.

Corals are not affected by ammonia like fish. per Jake Adams and h3 proved it before passing

 

[Charles Zinn]

One and a half months!

I’ve been adding bacteria since day one to help remove ammonia.

I already mentioned that, in my opinion, fish are important for strengthening the cycle.

So, not adding fish at this point is just a matter of preference and approach.

Some people believe it's absolutely necessary to add fish from day one.

Bacteria should be spread out by atleast a week to 14 days between dosing and each dose should be another type of bacteria. Have YOu ADDED ANY CLEAN UP CREW? would add them before another fish. When cycling you may have a minie spike before you have the real spike . Fish shouldn't be added til your ammonia and nitrites are both zero.

 

[Charles Zinn]

I agree with the people here who say do nothing and reduce feeding drastically. If your tank was fully cycled you'd have zero ammonia AND zero nitrites. I've seen the videos mentioned in this thread and many more on similar subjects. I love the various BRS YT series. Ryan is great. I recommend you spend as much time as possible watching them.

The saltwater hobby is difficult, and requires a significant investment in your own education, money (lots of it), and above all, PATIENCE. Nothing good happens fast in a reef aquarium. Everything bad seems to happen in hours or even minutes in some cases.

When coming to a forum like R2R to present a problem, I recommend you start by saying you're a newbie so people don't assume you have experience, state the problem, and include everything that may be relevant: pH, Alk, Ca, Mg, temperature, salinity, etc. In this case, details about the tank's age, what you've done to start the cycle, products used, when any livestock as added (and which livestock you added), whether the rock and sand you added were "live" or not when they were added to the tank, sometimes even the lighting parameters.

It's also a good idea to retrace your steps leading up to the situation. The clue may be linked to one of them.

I have found Trag Garage piece of the ocean to be very helpful, Melevsreef, Reef Bum. Reef Dudes. if you watch one with a guest go to the guests website. It's all about taking care of water. your testing and
I
C
P tests



it take 1 year to get an established microbiome or more even for a large tank. That's why the say patience and nothing good or bad happns fast.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Bacteria should be spread out by atleast a week to 14 days between dosing and each dose should be another type of bacteria. Have YOu ADDED ANY CLEAN UP CREW? would add them before another fish. When cycling you may have a minie spike before you have the real spike . Fish shouldn't be added til your ammonia and nitrites are both zero.

Correct, Why I like using corals. They bring bacteria with them and you can build without overloading the tank. Never had issues with adding coral first and ammonia much less anything else. Jake Adams inspired my love for elegances and made reefing more simplistic. Loved his explanations of things and his passion.

However, nitrite is harmless to fish. Our test kits won't even show or go up high enough to test nor will we achieve accidently levels that will hurt fish. Just need to wait for ammonia to drop if you have ammonia. With how I do things I never need to test except temp and salinity.

Microbiome is thrown everywhere with little understanding it seems. Microdiversity at the year mark, if new microbes are not introduced, certain strains will just take over before then. What most people try to apply when they say biome is the "dome" or water in the tank containing diversity. Which really in reef tanks it doesn't. We are constantly filtering, skimming, water changing, adding chemicals to keep water clean and UV filtering. Plus the size will never happen. Most biom when referring to corals is on the coral itself. But we also break this barrier that is only millimeter or 2 thick in order to make sure there is flow. It's a double edge sword though. Not breaking this up can cause issues. To much and coral isn't well protected. Not sure what you meant by microbiome lol.

 

[PopBot16]

Do as close to a 100% WC as possible.

 

[Nonya]

Correct, Why I like using corals. They bring bacteria with them and you can build without overloading the tank. Never had issues with adding coral first and ammonia much less anything else. Jake Adams inspired my love for elegances and made reefing more simplistic. Loved his explanations of things and his passion.

However, nitrite is harmless to fish. Our test kits won't even show or go up high enough to test nor will we achieve accidently levels that will hurt fish. Just need to wait for ammonia to drop if you have ammonia. With how I do things I never need to test except temp and salinity.

Microbiome is thrown everywhere with little understanding it seems. Microdiversity at the year mark, if new microbes are not introduced, certain strains will just take over before then. What most people try to apply when they say biome is the "dome" or water in the tank containing diversity. Which really in reef tanks it doesn't. We are constantly filtering, skimming, water changing, adding chemicals to keep water clean and UV filtering. Plus the size will never happen. Most biom when referring to corals is on the coral itself. But we also break this barrier that is only millimeter or 2 thick in order to make sure there is flow. It's a double edge sword though. Not breaking this up can cause issues. To much and coral isn't well protected. Not sure what you meant by microbiome lol.

 

[Nonya]

We are constantly filtering, skimming, water changing, adding chemicals to keep water clean and UV filtering.

We? Not me. I use a DSB, algae scrubber and skimmer only in a large tank with a half dozen large fish and a hundred frags and colonies. I haven't done a water change in 5 years (just use ATO to maintain level), and I only dose kalkwasser, soda ash, Mg and Seachem Reeftrace. I have the water tested twice a year at the most, and the results are always good. UV and chemicals to clean the tank are unnecessary in a healthy tank.

There are ways to be successfull in the hobby without bells and whistles.

Plus the size will never happen.

What do you mean?

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

We? Not me. I use a DSB, algae scrubber and skimmer only in a large tank with a half dozen large fish and a hundred frags and colonies. I haven't done a water change in 5 years (just use ATO to maintain level), and I only dose kalkwasser, soda ash, Mg and Seachem Reeftrace. I have the water tested twice a year at the most, and the results are always good. UV and chemicals to clean the tank are unnecessary in a healthy tank.

There are ways to be successfull in the hobby without bells and whistles.


What do you mean?

We is a general term for hobbyist in general as a whole. Doesn't mean everyone. I don't dose, I don't have skimmer I just have return pump, light, heater and air pump. I have filter sock just to protect return pump. But to my point, you still have skimmer and I use a filter sock no carbon or anything is put in it. My other tanks were just light and air pump or circulation pump but also 5 gallons or less.

Plus size of tank meaning that even with the largest tanks in our hobby, we will never achieve the biodiversity of nature, the natural balance nor the various and vast biological zones.

 

[DaddyDaughterNano]

It seems like the consensus is just still a young cycle. I know big water changes suck. Just keep doing them until things stabilize. The thought being to keep enough nitrite in there to fuel the proliferation of nitrifying bacteria without overwhelming things.

I wouldn’t be too concerned about carbon or phosphate right now. If you’re going through water, you don’t need carbon (the purpose of carbon is to clean the water). And as long as you feed your fish, you’ll have phosphates.

I’d also encourage you to keep building your biome. BRS has a great series on building the biome. I’m not sure how to link the playlist, but I really like this episode in particular:

 

[Treefer32]

I have found Trag Garage piece of the ocean to be very helpful, Melevsreef, Reef Bum. Reef Dudes. if you watch one with a guest go to the guests website. It's all about taking care of water. your testing and
I
C
P tests



it take 1 year to get an established microbiome or more even for a large tank. That's why the say patience and nothing good or bad happns fast.

Ha! I have a 340 gallon and I would say it took me 2-3 years to get things stabilized. Between Nitrates and phosphates, and random algae stages, to infestation of Briopsys to tens of thousands of aiptasia, to cyano..

My tank has gone through so many cycles over the past 6 years that it's blown my mind. I think it's finally stabilized into a naturally functioning biome without water changes. But, it's taken a lot of time and trial and error to get there. But I have everything from Acros to tons of LPS including harder to grow gonipora doing amazing.

This was my Aiptasia outbreak in October - December 2020: This is just maybe 1/5th of my 6ft by 3ft wide 340. There's not a single sign of aiptasia now, but back then the tank had only been running 3-4 years when the outbreak got out of hand. And yes it grew on the sand bed and rock work and the glass... The cyano you see there is gone as well.. So many bad cycles over the years.