nitrite in reef

[jesse alex ethier]

i have a 120 reef with 50 gallon sump i have 001.nitrites i cant get them lowered for some reason i have a naso tang orange shoulder tang dottyback blenny 2 goby lamarck angel 3 wrasse and 2 clowns i had 2 mp 10s i dont thing i have enough flow i have a hydro 1050 powerhead laying around and i have 200 pounds of rock in my system what should i do

 

[jokersplayground]

how old is your tank? did you let it fully cycle?

 

[delta]

nitrite is a non issue and you shouldn't be testing for it.

If you are testing to see if your nitrogen cycle is done then test for ammonia and nitrate once ammonia cycles down and nitrates cycle down under 10 you should be good to go.

If not and you have fully cycled tank and have no ammonia and nitrates under 10 then there is no need to worry.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

its a 8 months old when i moved it re cycled i always thought nitrites were bad in a sps tank my ammonia is 0 and nitrate is at 8 but some sps keep dieing but other do well i dont get it

 

[delta]

how long ago did you move it? with an established tank you may get a mini cycle but it should right itself fairly fast. This doesn't mean the stress of the move will not push weaker corals over the edge.

more info about your system would be good if you are looking to troubleshoot you issue.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

moved jan last year i waited a month to cycle i have 200 pounds of rock deep sand bed 13 fish reactors 50 gallon sump have a etss 900 skimmer for 450 gallons ,mirco algea i have been doing water changes to get my levels down

 

[delta]

The move isn't an issue at this point

What are your parameter, are you carbon dosing?

 

[jesse alex ethier]

I don't I run chemical pure elite posban,ammonia 0 nitrate 4 nitrite trace under 001

 

[delta]

I was lokking for all your parmeters
Alk,Ca,Mg , Salinity, Etc.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

Saint 1024 ,alk 7, mag 1475, Cal 450

 

[delta]

ALk is low. You want it in the 8-10 DKH range. With your calcium that high balance would be in and around 10dkh. Good chance you are losing corals just to that.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

I am using see Chem for the test kit and ya some sos are not happy at all but is my fish load heavy I really want zero nitrite

 

[frank180reef]

Yup agreed


QUOTE=delta;1233988]ALk is low. You want it in the 8-10 DKH range. With your calcium that high balance would be in and around 10dkh. Good chance you are losing corals just to that.[/QUOTE]

 

[jesse alex ethier]

I did the Cal for alk 4 us about 10 dkh right

 

[delta]

I did the Cal for alk 4 us about 10 dkh right

You adjusted it the Alk to 10 Dkh? If so that will be in line with your calcium level

 

[jesse alex ethier]

Ya I used the calu to figure out the dkh with 4 alk its around 10 dkh but I don't get why though my nitrites are in my system everyone says I need to b at zero

 

[reefstarter]

If you have trites you are getting ammonia , if you arent getting any and you need to test VERY often to catch it before the established bacteria in your tank has a chance to "eat " it Otherwise I bet your test kit is wrong . but if you are having any issues with . So with that said that means you either have too many fish , do Not have a good bacterial culture , or your kit is reading wrong .

 

[jesse alex ethier]

i hvae only 12 fish in my system my ammonia is zero my nitrates are around 8 and nitrites are trace to around0.01 i was thinking of getting a bottle of that bacterial stuff that ungiuq sells or tank a fish out i wonder if my skimmer isnt helping the issue

 

[jesse alex ethier]

how can i not have a good bacterial culture after 8 months

 

[mbian112283]

It has to be a bad test kit. Have you had you results verified?

Before I started reefing about 8 months ago I had a maintained a cichlid tank for about 5 years. My population of fish would rise and fall with breeding. I started with 5 fish and would have a spike of 55+ fish, they breed like crazy and are mouth brooders. I would only have to adjust water changes to take out the added nitrate and never seen nitrite or ammonia.

Biological filter in the rocks and substrate once built up can multiply very quickly to changes. Does anything change when you increase or decrease feeding? Nitrite or nitrate?