Newbie question- High nitrate levels during cycling

mudhutbob

Member
Well here it goes...... started a Red Sea 130D with live rock and live sand and no fish. Lights 1 hour per day and no skimmer. Only filter floss for now.

Week 1- Dosed with Tim's One and Only and added ammonia chloride. Ammonia and Nitrites slightly spiked but were at 0 at end of week 1. Nitrates were at 80ppm.

Week 2- Nitrates are still high at 80ppm at end of week 2. Did a 15% water change but still at 80ppm the next day.

Purchased a Red Sea Pro Nitrate test kit and it reads the same as my API kit. LFS said not to change water and let it sit for another week or 2. Also said the nitrate level may stay high. I am fine with letting it stand until it cycles but am a little confused. My freshwater tank cycled after 4 weeks and the nitrates went very low.

Will the saltwater nitrates eventually lower too?

Should I complete water changes or not? Some articles said it will remove some of the good bacteria.

I found something by Seachem called De Nitrate and read good things. Would this help or just wait a few more weeks. I also read that high nitrate levels will slow the growth of the good bacteria.

I plan on running Chemi Pure Elite and Purigen. Is it wise to start this now or wait until the tank fully cycles?

And to think I had this cycling stuff down too. Many thanks.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Hmm are you sure your water source isn't the cause of your nitrates? Did you use tap or ro/di water?
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Ditto to Bryan. I'd test your source water just to make sure.

Also elevated NO3 levels aren't a problem at this point of the game and a water change will help. % of NO3 reduction is directly proportional to % of water change. For instance 50% WC should net pretty much near 50% reduction in NO3.

Once your cycle is complete THEN you do a hefty water change. Test before and then again a few hours later. Then let the tank run for a couple of days and test again. This should give you a good idea of where the tank is and guide you which direction to take next.

A new tank is completely unable to handle NO3 which is one of the many reasons why we do water changes to begin with. Also don't resort to "fixes in a bottle" or you're going to be chasing #'s and wasting $$ all along the way. Best case is to find the cause of the problem and attack it from there instead of the symptom.

Good luck and Happy Reefing :)
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Good info from Allen. The reason I think it's your source water is because your water change did nothing and to bigals point, it should have reduced it proportionally if the wc was clean of nitrates
 

mudhutbob

Member
I will check the water I got from the LFS tonight. I purchased both saltwater (1.025) and RO/DI for topping off the evaporation. There has been little evaporation since the lights have been mostly off. I checked the salinity with my refractometer and it read 1.023 2 days ago. Will start with water changes to get the nitrates down and wait it out. Just didn't want to stall the cycle or have it crash and have to start over.
 

mudhutbob

Member
Ok..... checked the saltwater purchased from the LFS and it reads 0 nitrates. Since this is a fishless cycle I assume some of the nitrates are coming from the live rock. I will start water changes but wonder why the LFS said not to. I did read another place that said water changes can lower the good bacteria. I guess this was the crux of my original question. Many thanks....
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Seeing a high nitrate level at the end of the initial cycle is not at all unusual. It's the end product of all the die off from the live rock, and anything else you used to start the cycle. In your case, it was the ammonia.

at this point you want to make water changes until you get the nitrate level down. This usually requires about 4 partial water changes of 50%. Since you don't have any fish in the system yet, it is possible to change 100% of the water and do it all at once.

You need not worry about removing the good bacteria, because that lives in and on the live rock and live sand, but you do need to match the salinity and temp very closely.

At this point using nitrate reduction methods other than water changes will tend to be counter productive, but you might want to use them later, once you get something in the system.
 

Mike Johnson

Well-Known Member
A high nitrate level after cycling is what you want, it means that you have a confirmed cycle. Water changes should bring the level down. When someone says they have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, and 5 nitrates that sends up a red flag to me that they don't have a sufficient cycle.
 

mudhutbob

Member
Thanks all for the great advice. I did read a lot on the nitrogen cycle and was successful with a freshwater tank several months ago but due to the different parameters like live rock and sand and the extra equipment like skimmers and inTank baskets I didn't want to cause a crash and damage what has been an expensive beginning.

As you said.... the water changes did the trick. I performed a 50% water change and the nitrates are now steady at 20 ppm. I have also checked the other water parameters and they are all within range. The Hanna Alkalinity checker is a nice tool and can highly recommend it.

I will wait a few weeks before adding stock and will complete another water change but everything is looking good. I did purchase a CPR Nano Tumbler and some Dr. Tim's NP Active Pearls to keep a hand on the Nitrates once we are completely cycled and we add fish. I read many good reviews and the CPR Nano easily fits in the back of the Red Sea Max. Includes a Rio 90 pump too. I'll report back with a review in a few months after I install it and have added fish. Again..... many thanks.

Robert
 
Top