pendergraft Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I have BioCube14, 18lbs live rock, live sand, 2 clowns, 1 6line wrasse, 1 grn clown goby and shrimp. Nitrate is .5, Ammonia 0, Temp 78-80, Density 1.025, PH 8.5, Nitrite goes between .05, .02. Was zero before fish added. Tank has been running for a few months. Fish added one week ago. But all other readings seem to be Ok, just can't get a handle on the Nitrite. I have been doing water changes thinking that my readings are too high. 20-30% changes. I know Nitrite should be 0 and don't feel I am feeding too much, but could that be it? I feed once a day. Chamber one has heater&protein skimmer from Oceanic which as of yet has not collected anything but clear water, chamber two has a few live rocks on the bottom, then chemipure elite sandwiched between filter media, chamber three has a maxijet 900. I have siphoned any possible debris from the back of the chambers. Just wondering if I am worrying for nothing? Fish seem extremely happy and active. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment
dabandit Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 If your skimmer only produces water its not set right,the water level is too high. I cant remember how much liverock do you have? and did you cycle your tank for a full month before adding livestock? Link to comment
pendergraft Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 If your skimmer only produces water its not set right,the water level is too high. I cant remember how much liverock do you have? and did you cycle your tank for a full month before adding livestock? Yup, cycled tank before adding anything. All levels were great before adding fish. Maybe I have the air stone power too high. Will fix it. What causes nitrite? Link to comment
dabandit Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Death causes nitrite;food waste,live rock die off overloaded tank. Sounds like maybe your liverock isnt finished dying yet was it cured? Your system sounds like it should balance out,youve done everything right.Only thing I can suggest is not enough flow to keep detrious off the sand/rock,possible overfeeding or live rock die off. Get your skimmer working and it should help. Link to comment
jjohnson3 Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Yup, cycled tank before adding anything. All levels were great before adding fish. Maybe I have the air stone power too high. Will fix it. What causes nitrite? If I am not mistaken, ogganics and wastes breakdown into ammonia; ammonia breakes down into nitrite; then nitrite breaks down into nitrate; the biofilter feeds off of this nitrate. I could be horribly mistaken though. Link to comment
clownfish1124 Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 too many fishes Link to comment
pendergraft Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 The live rock was cured, plus the nitrite levels were 0 before fish. I do have the maxijet900 for flow plus the corilia nano powerhead on the other side of the tank. I have one of those twirly flo heads on the end of the 900 output. So lots of flow. In regards to the too many fishes wouldn't my ammonia be high and my other levels be out of whack? Only nitrite seems wonky. Link to comment
vangvace Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I have BioCube14, 18lbs live rock, live sand, 2 clowns, 1 6line wrasse, 1 grn clown goby and shrimp. Nitrate is .5, Ammonia 0, Temp 78-80, Density 1.025, PH 8.5, Nitrite goes between .05, .02. Was zero before fish added. Tank has been running for a few months. Fish added one week ago. But all other readings seem to be Ok, just can't get a handle on the Nitrite. I have been doing water changes thinking that my readings are too high. 20-30% changes. I know Nitrite should be 0 and don't feel I am feeding too much, but could that be it? I feed once a day. Chamber one has heater&protein skimmer from Oceanic which as of yet has not collected anything but clear water, chamber two has a few live rocks on the bottom, then chemipure elite sandwiched between filter media, chamber three has a maxijet 900. I have siphoned any possible debris from the back of the chambers. Just wondering if I am worrying for nothing? Fish seem extremely happy and active. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. no fish to all those fish at once? If so then it sounds like a minicycle. Link to comment
pendergraft Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 If it is a mini cycle, should I keep up with the water changes every other day or just if it gets too high? And what constitutes too high? I am using the ELOS test kit which apparently is one of the best. The readings start at 0, .02,.05,.1,.2,.5,1,2. So I am .02-.05. Is this horrible or livable for the fish? Want to take care of my kids. And as mentioned before all other levels seem OK to me. Link to comment
IMaNoob Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 i am pretty sure like 10+ is when you are getting too high Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Sounds like you might have increased your bio-load too quickly. Ammonia being 0 is a good thing. Nitrite you definitely want to keep at zero, but for now, as low as possible. I would keep doing water changes every day until your denitrifying bacteria have time to catch up. If your fish seem to be doing ok, so far the nitrite doesn't seem to have had ill effects. Link to comment
jejenkins Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 And this is kind of a "gray" area. But feeding every day may contribute as well. I feed every other day or third day. Some folks even feed once a week. Again it is a matter of opinion, tank setup, etc.....but you may try reducing your feedings to at least every other day til levels come into check. Don't worry the fish want starve Link to comment
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