Nitrite Ouestions

[Eric]

I got my 70 gallon up & running. The nitrates o ammonia o nitrites through the roof,is this normal for everything else to be 0 and nitrite at 4

Outher than that my tank is looking good. I put a blue leg hermit crab in the tank before the nitrites shoot up but it seems to be doing fine I give him little nibblets of food here and there


I'll get some fresh pics up soon

[mps9506]

Sounds like your tank is cycling
Just keep on testing your levels. Eventually your nitrates will go up and nitrites will go down. Give it a few more weeks and your tank should be ready to add a few inhabitants.

[Woodstock]

Ditto to Mikey's post

[prow]

i agree its cycling, however it is odd that you have 0 everything else. i would think you should have some ammonia early and some nitrates towards the end. what test kits are you using? are you using one the that only measures nitrates down to 10 and has no 0 reading? if you have one kit like that you more than likely have some nitrates that you are not able to read. tommarrow you should be able to read some nitrates with. just an F.Y.I. it would be wise to get a couple test different brand test kits for comparision. before you act on one test kits results. how long has the tank be running?

[Eric]

The tank has only been running 3 weeks so the cycle is exspected I thought everything else being 0 is odd to

The test kits are salifret and aquarium pharmaecuticals Plue I let the lfs check my water also for a second opinion

I think the nitrites will turn into nitrates when I get some benifical bacteria to break down the nitrites is this correct trying to get the basics down this is what I got out of reading in the KB

[prow]

yes correct, it is actually a constant thing. how long the cycle takes depends on the filtration, live rock, live sand, bio-ball. ect.. patients remember after cycling your tank, the tank, will just be able to support higher forms of life does not mean it is established and or stable. so just go slow and before doing anything or adding anything read up and research it. some corals/fish will not do well in a tank not fully established even though it has cycled. another thing if you dont have live rock in there already when you put some in or add a good amount at one time it will cause your tank to cycle again(same goes with any live stock)this is one reason why you need to do things slow. seems to me you are going about it the right way. good luck with it. by the way this is a very good site to aid you during the life of your tank. not as biasis about certain ways of setup as others. some sites seem to tell everyone to do things one way and dont offer much if you setup things differently. so until next time, happy reefing.

[Gina]

Break down of cycle

Found this in our knowledgebase. I find it odd also that you haven't had a spike in Ammonia. Ours was very high the first few days. How much LR do you have in your tank?