Nirate reading/cycle questions

Jason1

Member
Alright, i just set up a new 37 gallon tank about a week and a half ago (12/7). I bought about 65 lbs of rock, some live some base, and i also thru in a giant shrimp from the deli. i tested my water a few times durring the week and my Nitrates were through the roof (100ppm+). As of right now, my nitrates are reading below 5ppm. how is this possible? i havnt even done a single water change. could my tank be fully cycled already?
 

prow

Well-Known Member
it could be. was the 65lbs of rock live "cured" rock? might also have been a testing error..what are nitrites and ammonia levels doing?
 

vdituri

Well-Known Member
Also, there are going to be swings in the values until they settle to their final numbers.

Add large shrimp, food source for ammonia bacteria the produce a bumper crop of ammonia
Ammonia bacteria produce a bumper crop for the nitrite bacteria.
etc. etc.

It's kind of like a big wave through the food chain.
You should see some decreasing waves until it all settles.
Stay the course
 

BLAKEJOHN

Active Member
when your NH and NO2 are 0, then your cycle is complete. Continue testing for a week after levels are 0 to see if they remain there. Then do water changes until NO3 is less than 20ppm. Then you are good to go.
 

Jason1

Member
Ammonia reading 0
nitrite test is at a friends house
pH reading 8.1
Nitrates went from over 100ppm to less than 5ppm in less than 2 weeks

I did use a deli shrimp + live rock to start the cycle.


could the sudden drop in nitrates be because of the addition of BioBalls? I just put in brand new ones about 2-3 days ago
 

BLAKEJOHN

Active Member
I honestly don't know why you would have a sudden drop in nitrates. Nitrates need to be exported via water changes or consumption from macro algae. If anything Bio-Balls would probly add to it.
 

prow

Well-Known Member
take out the bioballs, they only provide surface area for aerobic bacteria, which as a group break down ammonia to nitrite then convert nitrites to the end product nitrates, so bio balls end up adding nitrates not removing them. they are good for fish only type tanks as fish are not so sensitive to nitrates, but corals are....
its anaerobic bacteria that break down nitrates to a nitrogenous gas "bubbles" that float out of the tank into the atmosphere. this is where most of your nitrates get broke down-but because anaerobic grow slower your nitrates will rise until the anaerobic get established. here is a good read for ya on the cycling http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html

for now you really need to check your nitrites to see if the first part of cycling a reef tank is complete or not, but do remove the bioballs they are not intended for reef tanks and are likely to do more harm then good.

so was the 65lbs of rock cured or not? also did you add any more shrimp or just the one and did the nitrate fall after the shrimp disolved?
 

Jason1

Member
so was the 65lbs of rock cured or not? also did you add any more shrimp or just the one and did the nitrate fall after the shrimp disolved?

55lbs of the total 65 is live. Some of the rock came cured, but i smelt all of them and a few were pretty fishy. the other 10 lbs is base rock.

i only put 1 shrimp in and it fully dissolved.

Nitrates still non existant. im going to try my friends test kit to see if its just mine.
 

prow

Well-Known Member
that one shrimp started your cycle but i doubt it created enough nutrients to grow enough bacteria to support a fish. but with all the live rock and what die off you got should have been enough. so what i would do is add two deli shrimps and see if that creates a cycle, if not the tank should be ready for a small fish if so let it cycle then you should be good to go with a small fish.
 
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