How do I get my trites down?

[disco bay jn]

I just finished cycling my 180g tank this week. All my readings were at 0. I did a 10% water change, then I added 20 snails, 3 cleaner shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp and 30 small hermit crabs as my clean up crew on friday. I added 2 percula clowns yesterday. My Nitrite reading jumped up to a little over .25. Amonia and Nitirate are both still at 0. Is a water change the only way to get them down, or should I sit tight and wait it out?
Oh yeah, I have 200#'s of LR and 100#'s LS.
Thanks
Jon

 

[cjason3041]

your nitrites should drop and convert to nitrates
it goes, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate...to lower trates do water changes...you can also use nitrate sponges....i do that from time to time

 

[chadman]

water changes are prolly your best bet...make sure you are not overfeeding and make sure there aren't dead spots in your tank where detritus and such are piling up

 

[aztec reef]

the only problem isthat nitrite is more harmfull than nitrates. so i say water changes all the way!

 

[disco bay jn]

I did a 10% water change today, and my trites dropped down to .25. Should I do another water change tomorrow? Amonia and trates are both at 0, or should I wait a little bit? I do have patience, I just don't want to screw anything up! Thanks for all your help. This new hobby is definately rewarding! and a lot less dangerous, I used to race profesional motocross, and my body is just to beat up for it. I like to relax and just check my new tank out. My neighbors are getting into it too!

 

[aztec reef]

do you cause a lot of impact on waterchanges?(what i mean is, do your fish and other livestock seem shocked for a while when doing waterchanges?)if yes then i would give it a couple days break then do another waterchange.
if they don't seem to care or if they seemed to like the waterchange you did yesterday then i would go ahead and keep doing daily waterchanges until you get them at 0.

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by Disco Bay JN
I did a 10% water change today, and my trites dropped down to .25. Should I do another water change tomorrow? Amonia and trates are both at 0, or should I wait a little bit? I do have patience, I just don't want to screw anything up! Thanks for all your help. This new hobby is definately rewarding! and a lot less dangerous, I used to race profesional motocross, and my body is just to beat up for it. I like to relax and just check my new tank out. My neighbors are getting into it too!

Are you sure it isn't your nitrates that are going up? If your tank is cycled, the end result of biological filtration should be nitrates, which will add up over time if you don't do water changes. I don't see your ammonia being zero, having .25 nitrite, and zero nitrate in a properly functioning system. Honestly, hardly anyone manages to run zero nitrate in an established system. Could be the cycle isn't complete.

 

[disco bay jn]

I'm new to this whole thing, but this is how it went down. I filled my tank with R/O water, added 100#'s of L/S, then three days later added 140#'s of L/R, started testing the parameters. My amonia spiked about the end of the second week, then they all slowly crept down to 0 for the next 2 weeks. I added a clean up crew of 20 snails, 35ish small hermits, 2 peppermint shrimp, and 3 cleaner shrimp. The next day I added 2 percula clowns and tested the parameters. My Amonia was 0 my trates raised slighly my trites went up to .5. I did a 18g (10%) water change today, my trates dropped down to 0, and trites dropped to .25. Eveeything looks good with the fish and crew, just want to be sure. Do you think my tank still hasn't cycled?? Damn I hope it has for the sake of my poor fishes!

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by Disco Bay JN
I'm new to this whole thing, but this is how it went down. I filled my tank with R/O water, added 100#'s of L/S, then three days later added 140#'s of L/R, started testing the parameters. My amonia spiked about the end of the second week, then they all slowly crept down to 0 for the next 2 weeks. I added a clean up crew of 20 snails, 35ish small hermits, 2 peppermint shrimp, and 3 cleaner shrimp. The next day I added 2 percula clowns and tested the parameters. My Amonia was 0 my trates raised slighly my trites went up to .5. I did a 18g (10%) water change today, my trates dropped down to 0, and trites dropped to .25. Eveeything looks good with the fish and crew, just want to be sure. Do you think my tank still hasn't cycled?? Damn I hope it has for the sake of my poor fishes!
If your tank is cycled, I don't see a 10% water change bringing nitrates down to zero. Most systems always have some nitrates, which is natural, because they're the result of converting ammonia to nitrites to nitrates. Could be that adding so much at once started the cycling process all over.

 

[aztec reef]

i think it's cycled. you probably got that spike from adding the crew and fish.(in a two day period)too soon!!
but since that's history, just keep doing waterchanges and checking levels, you should be fine...

 

[disco bay jn]

Clean up crew and 2 clowns are too much in a 180g? Well should I wait it out? Water change? or am I screwed?

 

[aztec reef]

bump 420 ***)

 

[aztec reef]

Clean up crew and 2 clowns are too much in a 180g?
not even!

 

[disco bay jn]

Thanks Aztec I was just wonering what to do after the fact. I'll wait it out, do W/C once a day, and keep my fingers crossed. This message board is AWESOME for the newbies. I couldn't have done it without all your help. This forum saves countless fishes lives!

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by rbaldino
Are you sure it isn't your nitrates that are going up? If your tank is cycled, the end result of biological filtration should be nitrates, which will add up over time if you don't do water changes. I don't see your ammonia being zero, having .25 nitrite, and zero nitrate in a properly functioning system. Honestly, hardly anyone manages to run zero nitrate in an established system. Could be the cycle isn't complete.
This is not so, a properly functioning system will zero out.
Nitrate is not the end of the Nitrogen cycle
Ammonification
Nitrates are the form of nitrogen most commonly assimilated by plant species, which, in turn are consumed by heterotrophs for use in compounds such as amino and nucleic acids. The remains of heterotrophs will then be decomposed into nutrient-rich organic material. Bacteria or in some cases, fungi, will convert the nitrates within the remains back into ammonia..
Nitrification
Main article: Nitrification
The conversion of ammonia to nitrates is performed primarily by soil-living bacteria and other nitrifying bacteria. The primary stage of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia (NH3) is performed by bacteria such as the Nitrosomonas species, which converts ammonia to nitrites (NO2-). Other bacterial species, such as the Nitrobacter, are responsible for the oxidation of the nitrites into nitrates (NO3-) (Smil, 2000)
Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation
Main article: Anammox
In this biological process, nitrite and ammonium are converted directly into dinitrogen gas. This process makes up a major proportion of dinitrogen conversion in the oceans.
Denitrification
Main article: Denitrification
Denitrification is the reduction of nitrates back into the largely inert nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle. This process is performed by bacterial species such as the Pseudomonas and Clostridium. (Smil, 2000) .
You see that a little Anaerobic water can go a long way to keep the tank clean, but if not kept in checked hydrogen sulfide producers can be a prob!
so keep the water moving and the sand sifting
add more rock and sand if you dont zero out

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by GeoJ
This is not so, a properly functioning system will zero out.
Nitrate is not the end of the Nitrogen cycle
Ammonification
Nitrates are the form of nitrogen most commonly assimilated by plant species, which, in turn are consumed by heterotrophs for use in compounds such as amino and nucleic acids. The remains of heterotrophs will then be decomposed into nutrient-rich organic material. Bacteria or in some cases, fungi, will convert the nitrates within the remains back into ammonia..
Nitrification
Main article: Nitrification
The conversion of ammonia to nitrates is performed primarily by soil-living bacteria and other nitrifying bacteria. The primary stage of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia (NH3) is performed by bacteria such as the Nitrosomonas species, which converts ammonia to nitrites (NO2-). Other bacterial species, such as the Nitrobacter, are responsible for the oxidation of the nitrites into nitrates (NO3-) (Smil, 2000)
Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation
Main article: Anammox
In this biological process, nitrite and ammonium are converted directly into dinitrogen gas. This process makes up a major proportion of dinitrogen conversion in the oceans.
Denitrification
Main article: Denitrification
Denitrification is the reduction of nitrates back into the largely inert nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle. This process is performed by bacterial species such as the Pseudomonas and Clostridium. (Smil, 2000) .
You see that a little Anaerobic water can go a long way to keep the tank clean, but if not kept in checked hydrogen sulfide producers can be a prob!
so keep the water moving and the sand sifting
add more rock and sand if you dont zero out
Anearobic bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen, but those bacteria aren't automatically present in a system. They require poorly oxygenated areas in the tank, generally deep in the sand bed. Nitrates are the end result of the biological filtration process that is common in most hobbyists tanks, and are usually controlled with water changes. Ask around, and I think you'll find that very few people run zero nitrates without some sort of additional denitrification, like a nitrate sponge.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by GeoJ
This is not so, a properly functioning system will zero out.
Nitrate is not the end of the Nitrogen cycle
Ammonification
Nitrates are the form of nitrogen most commonly assimilated by plant species, which, in turn are consumed by heterotrophs for use in compounds such as amino and nucleic acids. The remains of heterotrophs will then be decomposed into nutrient-rich organic material. Bacteria or in some cases, fungi, will convert the nitrates within the remains back into ammonia..
Nitrification
Main article: Nitrification
The conversion of ammonia to nitrates is performed primarily by soil-living bacteria and other nitrifying bacteria. The primary stage of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia (NH3) is performed by bacteria such as the Nitrosomonas species, which converts ammonia to nitrites (NO2-). Other bacterial species, such as the Nitrobacter, are responsible for the oxidation of the nitrites into nitrates (NO3-) (Smil, 2000)
Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation
Main article: Anammox
In this biological process, nitrite and ammonium are converted directly into dinitrogen gas. This process makes up a major proportion of dinitrogen conversion in the oceans.
Denitrification
Main article: Denitrification
Denitrification is the reduction of nitrates back into the largely inert nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle. This process is performed by bacterial species such as the Pseudomonas and Clostridium. (Smil, 2000) .
You see that a little Anaerobic water can go a long way to keep the tank clean, but if not kept in checked hydrogen sulfide producers can be a prob!
so keep the water moving and the sand sifting
add more rock and sand if you dont zero out
your information is great. though I noticed no mention of nitrospira bacteria wich is actually more common in home aquariums, nitrosomonas and nitro bacter are just the bacteria that labrotories use because they are the easiest to grow in a lab setting so the resulting data is minorly skewed. I agree that with available anaerobic zones or proper macro algae you can run a nitrate free tank, mine is. but not all hobbiest have their tank set up in this way.
Great information though.

 

[bragru]

I can see doing water changes for nitrates, but for nitrites? I am confused. Should this be left alone to run its course? When you do water changes, doesn't it sort of defeat the purpose of the cycle?

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
your information is great. though I noticed no mention of nitrospira bacteria wich is actually more common in home aquariums, nitrosomonas and nitro bacter are just the bacteria that labrotories use because they are the easiest to grow in a lab setting so the resulting data is minorly skewed. I agree that with available anaerobic zones or proper macro algae you can run a nitrate free tank, mine is. but not all hobbiest have their tank set up in this way.
Great information though.

My tank is no dif. from most just a 2" deep fine sand and 40 lbs live rock
the bacteria is what came on the rock
dont worry about nitrite if you have a large bio filtration they will become nitrate then you find your method to rid that. Keep an eye on all levels and if they get to high do something!

 

[disco bay jn]

What levels should be cosidered too high?