Lowering nitrites during cycling

steved13

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
Nope, nitrates are not converted to phosphates. I think, nitrates are eventually converted to nitrogen gas, but that can take awhile. Usually they are consumed, (it could be that they are consumed as they are converted to nitrogen?) or removed during a water change.

Phosphates are not part of the ammonia/nitrogen cycle, it's seperate.
 

JGard911

Member
again not to sound like a jackarse, but dosing things like this is a mess. natural accurance vs. dosing is behond me. time.... this is the key.

James

I have read and been told by Dr. Tim that when nitrites are >5 ppm that it inhibits or even poisons the bacteria which converts it to nitrates. That is why I am trying to do water changes to get it below 5 ppm. What I don't understand is that I have only dosed ammonia to a total of about 6 ppm which in theory converts to 6 ppm nitrites. But somehow I have waaaaaaaaaaaaay more and I don't know where it is coming from.

The API color chart scale only goes to 5 ppm for nitrites. When I cut my sample water by 50% with RO water (thats tests at 0 ppm nitrites) and it still tests >5 ppm, that suggests to me that the level is at least 10 ppm nitrites. I don't know where all the nitrites are coming from.
 

Jackalope

Member
man that is super wierd. well behond me, so im going to keep an eye on this. i'd like to know what the cause was and how the heck it was eleviated
 

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
PREMIUM
the conversion of nitrite to nitrate is performed by naturally occurring Nitrobacter spp. as this bacteria consumes nitrite it can hardly be considered "toxic" the only thing dr tim hasn't supplied you with is a fast forward button, its also quite possible your test kit is no good, relax and marvel at the wonders of nature and the hated chem lol
 

JGard911

Member
Jim, Just found this thread googling your problem, maybe it's worth a read,
Nitrites won't go down! [Archive] - Aquarium Forum

Thanks Juan
That thread sounds like a similar problem.

If I wasn't counting on Dr. Tims "One and Only" to shorten my cycle to 7-10 days, like it did for http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/69167-toms-75-so-begins.html, my nitrite spike doesn't sound that unusual.

Still waiting on Dr. Tim to see if he has any more ideas.
 

tommyboynj

Member
How many days are you into the cycle now? I looked at my log and I was around day 14 when Nitrite finally started to fall off. I was sitting right around 5 for a while. My nitrate never got above 80 though. I did a small water change and then bam, everything happen very quickly. What was your ammonia dosing regiment like? My only thought (and as it was explained in basic terms to me by Dr Tim) was that for 1ppm Ammonia your going to end up with around 1ppm Nitrite. Sounds like if your Ammonia is dropping and you Nitrite is off the charts then there may have been to much ammonia fueling the early stages of your cycle. Im a total newbie but this is how he explained it to me. I followed his instructions and the system worked for me.
 

JGard911

Member
My only thought (and as it was explained in basic terms to me by Dr Tim) was that for 1ppm Ammonia your going to end up with around 1ppm Nitrite. Sounds like if your Ammonia is dropping and you Nitrite is off the charts then there may have been to much ammonia fueling the early stages of your cycle.

Tom

Dr. Tim explained the same thing to me. My first dose of ammonia was about 20 ml (I counted out 225 drops) for my 150 gallon tank & 40 gallon sump to try and bring my ammonia up to 3 ppm. It tested at over 4. I waited until the ammonia was near zero and then redosed 10 ml and brought the ammonia back up to 2 ppm. Dr. Tim said he didn't want the nirtites >5, but mine have been there since day 5, and I havent been able to get them down, despite numerous water changes.
Did you just continue to dose ammonia, despite having nitrites over 5?

Last night I dosed another 10 ml of ammonia, just to see if I was still getting ammonia conversion, and the ammonia went from 2 ppm to .5 ppm in less than 12 hours. So that part looks good.

AquariumTestResults-8.jpg


It just seems like I have way more nitrites in the system, than the TOTAL amount of ammonia (8 ppm) that I have added in the 11 day cycle so far. How much TOTAL ammonia did you dose?
 

JGard911

Member
Jim, I would leave it as it is, they have to come down on their own. :)

Thanks Juan
Right now I guess that is my only option. Just needed to know if I was missing something. Dori and nemo have been straring at me at the LFS wanting a new home !!
 

DryDiver

New Member
Hey- So- me too.

I'm on day 21 of Dr Tim's process for fishless cycling. Nitrites are >5ppm and have been for 10 days or so. Dry rock and dry sand in the display and Ocean Direct Oolite in the fuge. I am using his lab grade ammonia. I have also chatted with Dr Tim and did the water change. Actually, I've done several. 1ppm of ammonia is processed within 18 hours. So, I am waiting it out and feeding 1ppm ammonia every 2-3 days to minimize Nitrite accumulation.

The funny thing is, I should be seeing more nitrite or nitrates being produced. It is a closed system after all. I suspect that between the water changes and the DSB in the fuge, the nitrates are being exported. Would be nice to see some fish in my box of water.

The test on MrSaltwaterTank.com shows a dead 100 gallon with 2 small clowns cycling in 1 week. I bought-in, 'Cause, well, cause we all want a fast cycle. However, I deviated from the plan. I suspect that the live sand caused the cycle to lengthen for several reasons and my system's total volume is less than 60 gallons. I also suspect that two clowns would produce far less ammonia in 100 gallons than the 2ppm I initially added.

So why bring this up?
Misery loves company:smirk:
 

DryDiver

New Member
Hello Again. Any progress?

On day 25 I finally started seeing a nitrite drop. I'm at 2ppm from over 5ppm.

Nitrates rising and some algae growth on the previously bleached rock. I am also getting a .25ppm Ammonia spike with no additional ammonia added.
 

Francine

New Member
I know this thread is old... but people still come across it when googling stuff looking for answers... so I thought I would add this in as it’s not pointed out very clear in the initial instructions...
One of the biggest mistake people make when they are dosing the ammonia is they think “ok I have a 32g tank so I’m going to dose for 32g’s”
WRONG!
What you need to know is the ACTUAL volume of water in your tank and dose by that.... so when initially filling your tank keep track of how much SW actually goes in there... because with sand and rock and whatever else you may have it will not be “32g’s”
To have accurate results and have things work properly from the start is you only dose the amount of ammonia for how many g’s of water are ACTUALLY in your tank... not the “tank size” this is how many people using pure ammonia end up over dosing it..,, and then leading to higher nitrites and nitrAtes ect..... just some food for thought for anyone that comes across this from google like I did!
 
Top