sorry, another cycling question

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2892189
Seems toxicity is a wide term. Does the study mean toxicity to the point of death?
From anything I have read the nitrites are more detrimental (death) to freshwater fish in levels much lower (less than 1 ppm) than saltwater fish (330) ppm.
In my last post I was just pointing to the quote as saying that Nitrospira and similar bacteria are slow growing organisms.
Yes, I assume they mean slow growing in comparison to other bacteria. That's what I found interesting. I guess I haven't ever tried to grow other types of bacteria.
Nitrite is a definate toxin for freshwater tanks. I hear so many hobbiests conclude the same is true for saltwater but I'm not on board with that. I don't even test Nitrite because I don't see any reason to.

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2892192
I don't even test Nitrite because I don't see any reason to.
It appears that you and Randy Holmes-Farley have the same outlook on this!!!

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2892222
It appears that you and Randy Holmes-Farley have the same outlook on this!!!

Dr. Holmes-Farley is a reef tank chemistry genious. I you see me disagree with him, ever, let me know so I can re-evaluate my stance.

 

[john57]

My experience with my cycle was that nitrites took a fair amount longer than the ammonia to disappear. And the nitrate never really got very high so I'm guessing the bacteria that take the step to break down nitrate populated faster than the nitrite eaters or just as fast anyway.
7 or 8 days from adding the live rock, the ammonia was completely gone, and it had spiked big time. Almost three weeks later, the nitrite is finally dropping and getting close to 0. Nitrate at this time shows very little concentration. I'm hoping that a long cycle like this will make my system more stable. Time will tell. I've got a moderate algae bloom so I'm hoping to drop a CUC in after another week or so. Diatoms are still around as well.

 

[spanko]

IMO you are doing well john. However to me you let the ammonia get too high but your tank will still have a good biofiltering capability. Keep up with your plan and you will undoubtedly have a nice stable tank to start adding life to.

 

[john57]

I agree with you on the ammonia spike. I was going 25 to 30 percent water changes every one or two days just to try to keep the ammonia at a reasonable level, but I think that the live rock was so "hot" that I just couldn't keep up. It drove me nuts.
In retrospect, I should have taken the rock out a time or two and scrubbed it again and make a 100% change or two, but life goes on. At least I hope some of it is left in my LR.