Cycling a new tank

[Phistick]

My son has a 35 gallon tank that he is trying to get up and running. It has been in the setup process for about 6 weeks. The nitrite and nitrate numbers were at zero 5 days ago. The nitrites have increased in the past 5 days to .5 ppm.
What is going on with the water? Is this normal?

[ramseynb]

That seems like a long time to cycle IMO. Did he use live rock? If so, perhaps there's still some die off happening. Has he added anything to the tank or is it just cycling?

[Phistick]

He only used live sand. The rock he put in is Life Rock which I’m guessing has no real live or dead material on it. The pet store told him he could add fish after two weeks and he did, four damsels which quickly died. That’s when we started looking for better information and found this forum.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by Phistick

He only used live sand. The rock he put in is Life Rock which I’m guessing has no real live or dead material on it. The pet store told him he could add fish after two weeks and he did, four damsels which quickly died. That’s when we started looking for better information and found this forum.

If all the fish died right away the tank was probably not cycled. If the nitrates are increasing, the tank is cycling now. Be careful buying damsels. Some get big and mean and will not allow you to add any other fish. Also start with one not four.

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[ramseynb]

Originally Posted by Easy E

If all the fish died right away the tank was probably not cycled. If the nitrates are increasing, the tank is cycling now. Be careful buying damsels. Some get big and mean and will not allow you to add any other fish. Also start with one not four.

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+1 Adding Damsels is an old school way to cycle a tank and then you end up with aggressive fish that can be terrors. Just keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite. When they're both 0, he should have some nitrate. Do a large water change to get the nitrates down then add one small fish. Add more fish and/or coral slowly. The old saying in this hobby is "nothing good happens fast".

[mcgyvr]

Being up for 6 weeks your tank has likely cycled by now..
However please test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and post the most recent results..
The .5 nitrite could just be a testing error.. API test kits are kind of known for that..

[Phistick]

PH = 8.0, Nitrite 2ppm, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0-.25
Nitrites keep rising.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by Phistick

PH = 8.0, Nitrite 2ppm, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0-.25
Nitrites keep rising.

If these results are accurate, it indicates the tank is not completely cycled yet. The bacteria convert the ammonia into nitrites then convert the nitrites into nitrates. You can buy bottles of nitrifying bacteria at the fish store to add to your tank. Some people dispute whether it works or not, but it always seems to speed up cycling in my new tanks.

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[Daddi0]

Does your son have good water flow in his tank? Did you put a canister filter on?
Cheers! Mark

[Phistick]

He is running a canister filter and the water flow looks good. So we should expect the nitrite level to eventually drop and the nitrate level to come up before they both drop to zero? Then consider it cycled?

[Daddi0]

Those canisters can cause issues with nitrates.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by Phistick

He is running a canister filter and the water flow looks good. So we should expect the nitrite level to eventually drop and the nitrate level to come up before they both drop to zero? Then consider it cycled?

Ammonia and nitrites should drop to zero, but nitrates won't. Nitrates are the end result of the cycle. Nitrates are generally not harmful to fish. Ammonia is lethal. Plants will eat the nitrates, so if you start to see algae, you can be fairly certain the cycle is complete. High nitrates can cause problems as well, mainly excessive algae growth, but eliminating them completely is not easy. Frequent water changes will help keep the nitrates down. If you're going with a fish only tank, which is what you should do as a beginner, don't worry too much about nitrates.

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[Phistick]

Great! Thanks sooo much

[nereefpat]

Originally Posted by Phistick

PH = 8.0, Nitrite 2ppm, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0-.25
Nitrites keep rising.

Must be something wrong with either the nitrite or the nitrate testing.

Nitrate test kits change nitrate to nitrite, so any nitrite present will make nitrates read falsely high.

[Phistick]

So I was gone for a week and came back this evening and tested the water again.
PH=8, Nitrite = 2.0 - 5.0, Nitrate 1.0, Ammonia 0 - .25
How do I get these Nitrites to drop down? Water changes? or give it more time?

[Phistick]

I forgot to add that there is a ton of algae in the tank now. It's a brown velvety looking algae.

[mcgyvr]

Give it more time..
You still have nitrites present.. You need to wait for them to drop to zero..

[nereefpat]

Have you gotten a second opinion on those results? A local fish store will usually test for you.

I still say there's something screwy with those test results. Nitrate tests use a zinc reduction method which reduces nitrate to nitrite. If you really have 2-5 ppm nitrite, your nitrate test kit should read much higher.

Now...I'm not saying that the tank isn't still cycling, and waiting never hurts. There is just something wrong with either your nitrite or your nitrate testing.

[CRJ]

Originally Posted by Phistick

PH = 8.0, Nitrite 2ppm, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0-.25
Nitrites keep rising.

Sounds like the cycle has stalled.

One type of bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite. It seems they are doing their job, however another type of bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate. Given you have high Nitrite and zero Nitrate, it would indicate these guys aren't up to the job of handling the tank.

Since you are going from dead rock, a 6 week cycle isn't uncommon. I would feed the tank with some fish food and if possible grab a piece of live rock from your local fish store to seed it, or add a bottle of bacteria. Continue to cycle until you have 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite. If your Nitrates go over 10ppm, do a water change. I would do a 50-90% since there's no fish in it yet to keep nitrates at near 0. Once fish are in, do weekly changes and test before the water change to keep an eye on the Nitrates. if they go up every week even with water changes, increase the size of your water change and try to limit the uneaten food your feeding. replace filter floss twice or week or when clogged, make sure there is good flow in the tank to prevent rot of food in dead spots.

Good luck!

[Phistick]

The Nitrates have began to climb. They are now at 1.0 ppm. I will bring in a piece of live rock today to help it along. I'll give it a little more time to see if the nitrites will begin a decent and the nitrates continue to rise. Thanks for the input.

[Phistick]

I believe I was incorrectly testing the nitrates when I used the test kit. I watched a youtube video on the test kit and it cleared that up.

Currently PH=8, Am = 0, Nitrites 2.0, Nitrates 5-10.

I did a 50% water change yesterday. How do I continue to get that nitrite number down? More water changes or just time?

[mcgyvr]

No friggin way you still have nitrites..
You sure you are using that test kit properly?

and FYI.. With a 50% water change nitrites would have dropped 50%.. IF they did not then your testing is flawed..

You also mentioned a piece of live rock... If you did that there is 100% no way you still have nitrites present..
The tank MUST be cycled already and you are just measuring incorrectly or whatever..
No way its not cycled by now.. no way..

[Phistick]

I have a QT tank as well that is cycling and I use the same test kit. I test both tanks back to back and the readings in each are completely different so I'm sure the testing is accurate.
The DT nitrites are 2.0 and the QT is .25
I don't know why the nitrites are hanging around.
I'm not running any charcoal on the DT. Would that help out at all?

[Phistick]

I didn't add the live rock. My LFS doesn't carry it. I haven't made it across town to Petco.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

No friggin way you still have nitrites..
You sure you are using that test kit properly?

and FYI.. With a 50% water change nitrites would have dropped 50%.. IF they did not then your testing is flawed..

You also mentioned a piece of live rock... If you did that there is 100% no way you still have nitrites present..
The tank MUST be cycled already and you are just measuring incorrectly or whatever..
No way its not cycled by now.. no way..

I agree with mcgyvr 100%. There is something wrong with the nitrite test. The fact that you get a result of 2 on all your recent tests would support this. I would suspect 2=0 with this test kit.

I think it's safe to go ahead and add one fish at this point. I suggest maybe a yellowtail or azure damsel. They are pretty, stay small, and are not real aggressive. They can also tolerate less than ideal water conditions.

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