nitrites

[beckyforvols]

I had a 10 gallon saltwater tank we started in November 07. Everything went great and we decided to upgrade to 55 gal. Set up the new tank-that was so fun-have lava rock, a little live rock,dried corals,etc. After 3 days,we transferred the old tank to the 55. First the rock and decorations, then the old filter, then the fish. A coral beauty, peppermint shrimp, and a couple grass shrimp. Wednesday we did the transfer, and Thursday evening the nitrites started rising. I had checked the 10 gallon nitrite level before and it was fine. Now this morning after adding 5 caps of Prime last night, it looks like the levels are higher. Fish seem fine. Eating and moving around. What is going on? Please help!

 

[austinsdad]

Didja ever have any ammonia? Or maybe you missed it if you did. WOndering if some kinda mini cycle is going on.

What is the nitrite level? And what kinda test kit?

Lava rock? Never knew SW could do that. I believe it may emit something, you sould check.

So, you added new water 45 gallons to the 10g you had. How much rock we talkin here? Less than 10 lbs total? Maybe 5 when yuo JUST consider the live rock? Any sand?

Not sure you have enuf surface that necessary bacteria can live on to deal with the bio-load. I know it's small, but somehting point to "cycle" to me.

Bad test kit? Can ya get the water tested by the lfs?

 

[beckyforvols]

I have a Tetratest-NO2. I used it to test the water before the transfer, and it showed normal. I did consider the kit may be bad, especially since it showed a rise in nitrites after adding Prime. I think we had the fish store check all our levels before and everything was fine. We did have an issue with clowns not making it in the 10 gallon, but the aquarium store thought they had gotten a bad batch. What do you mean by mini-cycle? I'll take the water down to the store today and have them test it.

 

[beckyforvols]

Yes, we used a large bag of sand-and there is alot of rock. We only have 3 very small pieces of live rock.The sand is probably about 3 inches think on the bottom. I uploaded a picture of the tank, but I don't know where it went on the site.

 

[beckyforvols]

pics

Finally uploaded pictures.

 

[austinsdad]

Still no pics.

By mini cycle, I wuz thinking that the ammonia may had risen pror to the 'trites showing up. Ammonia up, then down followed by a nitrite rise is a cycle. Maybe disturbing the sand during the transfer stirred up something down there.

Need to do a water change now. Maybe 25% or so.

 

[beckyforvols]

Will a 25% affect my bacteria growth too much? The guy at the store didn't want me to mess with it. I did a 3 gallon change the other day.

 

[beckyforvols]

Click on my name, and it will take you to my album-pics are there

 

[austinsdad]

Well, you could let it ride and check on it daily, But nitrites is not a good sign. If the shrimp are OK, I guess I'd still think the test may be off.

Also, soon you are gonna need to replace the faux fauna. It'll get real ugly after the algea, new tank diatoms, and then corraline starts to grow. As far as replacing it with real coral for a reef, the coral beauty MIGHT give you a problem. Angels and reef don't mix often.

What kinda lighting is on that tank BTW?

 

[beckyforvols]

2 Coralife 50/50 Actinic 03 blue. The guy said this would promote more growth from the live rock. I'm going to research this lava rock thing-I hope we don't have to start all over with the base.

 

[beckyforvols]

BTW-I may have been mistaken on the rock base we're using-Lace rock may be what we have. All the info I've seen on lava rock varies. Some say they've used it w/no adverse effects. Others swear it will kill your fish or leach bad chemicals in your tank. Hopefully I was mistaken, because the majority of what I read leads me to think lava rock would not be good for a tank.

 

[roka64]

I'm going to move this to the SW section of Getting started.

 

[cmor1701d]

Is the new rock base rock or LR?
How much new LR did you add?
Was it fully cured?
How long was it out of water before you got it into the tank?

It does sound like the new tank is going through a cycle.

A pwc will not affect your bacteria levels. Most of the bacteria coat a surface; sand, rock, glass, plastic, etc. Very little bacteria are in the water column. That why doing a 20% - 30% pwc is recommended to help get water parameters back to normal -- dilution is the cure to pollution.

Please post all the parameters you can test for.
Temp, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and any other tests you may have.

How many pounds of rock do you have altogether?

 

[beckyforvols]

Temp is 77, pH is 8.3, Nitrites are 1.6. I don't have a nitrate test kit yet. Salinity is .022. The base is lace rock. We have only 3 small pieces of live rock as yet, and yes it was fully cured at the aquarium we deal with. It was only out of water for about 10 minutes. Not sure of total rock pounds

 

[beckyforvols]

Am about to do a 25% water change. Will advise.

 

[austinsdad]

Didja confirm whether it's lace or lava rock??

If not sure, I'd certainly remove it. You said "may be what we have".

 

[beckyforvols]

yeah!!

It is lace rock. Just finished a 25% water change-checked the nitrites 5 minutes later, and they're already gone from 1.6+ to 0.8 verging on 0.3!!! Everyone in the tank still looking good. Thank you everyone for all your help. Will keep updating.

 

[melosu58]

Yes keep us updated. Nitrites must be at 0. Any amount is leathal for your tank.

 

[beckyforvols]

They're hanging right at 0.8 now. I'll recheck in the morning, and if they're still elevated will do another pwc.

 

[cmor1701d]

What are you using for filtration besides the LR?
Please list all the equipment you have in the tank and all the livestock.

Those nitrites are coming from somewwhere and we need to figure out where they're coming from if you see any increase again.

Hopefully that last pwc will work and the tank can catch up overnight.