Nitrite and amonia wont go down

[gasperagnes]

Hello,

Need some advice. 2 months ago I started a new 180 gal reef. Did a fishless cycle. Took about 3 weeks to cycle. QT my first fish. (5) damsels. Waited 2 weeks and put them in my main display. While the damsels were in the QT I ghost fed the main display. Tested the water after week and (API) nitrite 0 and amonia 0. Figured the tank was cycled. Went to LFS had them test the water to confirm. It was time to add more fish. so over the course of the next 2 weeks I added (2) clowns, (2) blue faced triggers, (1) fox face, (2) wrasse, (4) garden eels, (2) fire shrimp, (2) cleaner shrimp, (3) scallops, small cleane crew, (2) hippo tang and (1) has died. Once I saw that a fish died I immediately tested the water. My amonia was up .25 and nitrite .25. Did a 50% water change and the tests results stayed the same. Been changing water slowly for about a week now. About 3 gallons a day. I also added a bottle of turbo start to help with bacteria growth. The test results have stayed the same for the last week. Is this normal?

 

[ScottJ]

I'm no expert, but that seems like a lot of livestock in a very short time. I would keep up with water change. As long as other fish are ok, just wait. Ditch API tests, don't bother with Nitrite, and take your time adding anything alive. It's a journey, not a race.

 

[TokenReefer]

I'm no expert, but that seems like a lot of livestock in a very short time. I would keep up with water change. As long as other fish are ok, just wait. Ditch API tests, don't bother with Nitrite, and take your time adding anything alive. It's a journey, not a race.

I agree. The bacteria is having a hard time keeping up with converting all that added Ammonia I suspect. Wc's and eventually it'll catch up but that was a lot at once

 

[brandon429]

Those test readings are what we expect from api in a stocked reef, your cycle isn’t broken

see any search on api accuracy for thirty years online, this is what everyone reads on that kit with fish in the tank.

why didn’t you qt the rest of the new additions / you were off to a great start


there are no broken cycles at month two in reefing. We don’t test for nitrite any longer in display reefing/ problems solved

fish disease killed your fish not ammonia

 

[gasperagnes]

Those test readings are what we expect from api in a stocked reef, your cycle isn’t broken

see any search on api accuracy for thirty years online, this is what everyone reads on that kit with fish in the tank.

why didn’t you qt the rest of the new additions / you were off to a great start


there are no broken cycles at month two in reefing. We don’t test for nitrite any longer in display reefing/ problems solved

fish disease killed your fish not ammonia

honestly i am so new at this. That I didn't test the QT tank amonia and nitrite levels. Once I did the levels were off the charts. so I took the fish out because I panicked and put the fish in the display because i new the levels were ok. The LFS is very reputable so i took the gamble. I am learning all of this the hard way. The fish in the MD are not showing any signs of disease. No spots, Tail decay, scratching on rocks ETC. I guess i just have to wait and see at this point. What test kit do you recommend?

 

[gasperagnes]

I'm no expert, but that seems like a lot of livestock in a very short time. I would keep up with water change. As long as other fish are ok, just wait. Ditch API tests, don't bother with Nitrite, and take your time adding anything alive. It's a journey, not a race.

thank you. I have a few members of a clean up crew and i am in the middle of an algae bloom. I cant wait to get the full clean up crew going.

 

[brandon429]

I have a neat trick for cycle assessment, you won’t need any test kit



post a picture of your tank, a full tank shot

the picture will show ways your cycle is controlled. You can manage fish disease with 30 day quarantine and fallow options found by studies in the disease forum, or you can just proceed and see if the fish are resistant. Either way your cycle isn’t the issue, no testing needed
post a tank picture I’ll show some cycle proofing in it

 

[gasperagnes]

Pics

 

[brandon429]

Literally a perfect tank

reasons it’s cycled and no testing is needed:

-plenty of surface area in the middle of water flow

-very low bioload for such a large nice tank

-remaining fish are evenly distributed, any ammonia issues will have them floating or sinking or in obvious pain, but here they feed and act normal every day


-the sum total of all seneye measurements, in the tens of thousands now, always show no cycle problems on day sixty


-there are no cycling charts that take this long to cycle

-your ammonia test kit requires conversion to nh3 to be reef-specific

you reported as nh4…your real ammonia is over ten times less and that’s why all the fish are normal day to day. Staggered losses here are most likely fish disease from mixing stocking orders and timing without fallow and qt. Yours is not a cycle issue at all.

 

[Garf]

in the middle of an algae bloom

That should polish off your ammonia, lol.

Small increases in ammonia and maybe nitrite should be expected when massively increasing you stock level. They are harmless at the level posted.

 

[gasperagnes]

Thanks everyone for the info. Very helpful.