Nitrite is STILL at 1.0

lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
It has been almost a full month now that my 55g has been cycling.. All is well except for my nitrite level. It has been hanging at 1.0 for over 2 weeks.
What is going on in there?
I have 2 maxi jets, 1 skimmer, 1 powerfilter, LS and LR.
I'm open to all suggestions here. I've got brown stuff growing everywhere, but it doesn't seem to be affecting nitrite level.
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
something wrong with that for sure - I would suspect the nitrite test kit - take a water sample to your LFS and have your readings verified. You have nitrates so that colony should be growing and decreasing the nitrites. 0 ammonia indicates no new nitrites should be forming and nitrates indicate that some are being converted.
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
Originally Posted by lovetofly31
I've got brown stuff growing everywhere, but it doesn't seem to be affecting nitrite level.
Cut back on the lighting schedule a bit and see if this helps. Is the brown just a "light dusting" or is it getting thicker?
 
lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
Brown stuff is pretty thick. Its all over the sand and much of the rock. I leave the lights on for about 8 hours a day. Could that be the problem?
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
yeah - part of the problem. you have either much higher nitrates than your test indicates or you have phosphates in the water (something is feeding that diatom algae). Cut back the lights schedule temporarily to 2 - 3 hours. Did you use tap water when you filled the tank? Tap water normally contains phosphates - you should get RO/DI water.
 
lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
I did use tap water when I filled the tank, against much of the advice I found here. When I topped the water off last weekend, about 3 gallons worth, I used the water from walmart, from the culligans machine.
I use the API test kit and the cards that come with it, with the colors on there to indicate the levels, only go up to 10 for Nitrates, so if it was higher, I wouldn't know it unless the color was much darker than the one on the card.
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
OK - you'll need to get those test results confirmed - the test for nitrates must go higher than 10 - isn't API the one that has a "high level" and "low level" on the color chart? make sure you are reading the correct side. If my suspicions are correct - then it will probably be time for you to do a 20% water change to lower the nitrates to 20 or less (unless they are extremely high - then you may need to do multiple water changes) for a FOWLR tank. GL - HTH
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
Just checked one of my kits - API Master Test Kit - the Nitrate card reads up to 160. My Red Sea card is the one that has high and low range readings.
 
lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
just checked my api test kit, and the nitrate test goes to 160 ppm. did another nitrite and nitrate test and results are nitrate=10.0 and nitrite=1.0
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I would suggest before you do anything that you get the tests confirmed at the LFS, ideally using a different brand of test kit.
 
lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
I have 25 lbs of live sand/25lbs dead sand. I have 15 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of base rock.
I will take a sample of water to the LFS, but I was also considering taking it to a colleague at work who is a chemistry professor and let him tell me exactly what is in the water still that shouldn't be there.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Are you cycling just with the LR, or shrimp, or ?? Also an alkalinity and calcium test would be good.
 
lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
Are there fish in there yet?
Nope, no fish or inverts yet. The LR came with some snails, a red bristle looking worm, and some other critters but that's all that is in the tank.
 
lovetofly31

lovetofly31

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Are you cycling just with the LR, or shrimp, or ?? Also an alkalinity and calcium test would be good.
I began cycling with just the LR. I did that for about a week or two maybe and then added a single piece of raw uncooked shrimp. After doing some reading I thought that the shrimp might actually interrupt the cycle so I took it out after about 12 hours.
what will the alkalinity and calcium test tell me?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
It is just important to know they are within range, to make sure the cycle hasn't "stalled" due to something like that. There is no reason the shrimp would interrupt the cycle.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by lovetofly31
I began cycling with just the LR. I did that for about a week or two maybe and then added a single piece of raw uncooked shrimp. After doing some reading I thought that the shrimp might actually interrupt the cycle so I took it out after about 12 hours.
what will the alkalinity and calcium test tell me?
Then you are right on schedule. Nitrite takes a lot longer than ammonia to break down/convert into nitrate. The whole process takes about 6-8 weeks. You are where you should be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top