Nitrites Are back please help.

[Joeyb1731]

So My tank "finished" cycling last Thursday. Saturday I bought 5 blue leg hermits 1 turbo snail and 1 nassarius snail. I did not properly acclimate them, which I know now. Since then 2 of my hermits have died. Im pretty sure the longest that a dead one was in there was maybe an Hour at the most. My readings today were.

pH-8.3 (I use a buffer)
Nitrate-20 ppm ( a little less)
Nitrite-.25 ppm
Ammonia-0

I cycled my tank only with the live rock and some fish food every other day, my cycle took about 3 and 1/2 weeks. Is it possible that the bio-load from the inverts was too much for my tank, if so, WTH I didnt think my bacteria count would be soo weak. My plan is to wait till the nitrite goes down, hopefully tomorrow. And put a few more inverts (properly acclimated) and cross my fingers. Does that seem like a good idea? Im getting very frustrated with this.

 

[Joeyb1731]

Please someone

 

[DarthPadre]

Damn, that sucks. I have a couple of "ideas". Did you get fully cured LR? If so, it is possible that the bacteria population was so minimal that the waste the inverts have created (and they can potentially "stir up" a bunch of dead matter within the rocks and sand which would add to the ammonia levels - especially because you seeded your tank with food). If this is your tanks condition it will probably kick back into shape within a couple of days. I say this from experience with a Freshwater tank, so Saltwater may be different? I think you're on the right track. Just keep an eye out and don't get more inverts until it normalizes. And maybe increase the temp in the tank and aerate with the powerheads. You probably totally know all this, just putting ideas down for you.

Good luck...

 

[Lotus]

I think your plan sounds reasonable. I'm really not sure why you'd get a nitrite reading if you've already had an ammonia and nitrite spike, but it's possible. The nitrite shouldn't affect your inverts too badly.

Drip acclimating for two or three hours is recommended for inverts. Snails especially need a long, slow acclimation.

 

[Joeyb1731]

Thanks. Yea it's so weird the nitrite spike with no ammonia. Thanx for ur help though I'll let u know how it goes

 

[Joeyb1731]

Just an update, after a PWC last night, My nitrite is higher. readings today are
pH-8.3
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-.50-1.0
Nitrate- 10 ppm

Am I going crazy??? Im about to dump the tank out the window and give up with the SW, its very disheartening

 

[DarthPadre]

No giving up. Who am I going to compair notes with?

Try to stay away from water changes. As you know this will prolong the cycle. Lotus stated that the inverts are not as sensative to Nitrites, so just hang out for a couple of days. I guess if you're still worried about the Nitrites, add some Prime. But, again, this can prolong your cycle.

Keep us updated.

 

[DarthPadre]

I'm now with you. My Nitrites went up to .25 today. I called my LFS (Aquatics Warehouse in San Diego - call these guys, they are truly some of the best - 858-467-9297) and here is what they said. Because I cycled so fast with patially cured rock (9 days) it is not uncommon for another spike when you put the clean up crew in. They will stir up some waste and can overload the small population of bacteria (small population because the rocks were cured). Don't worry unless it gets to 1.0 or higher then DEFINITELY DO partial water change (sorry for the bad advise before). If it continues for over a week, you have a more serious problem. On a side note, I have definitely pushed the limit of a bio load. I'll post the specific creatures I procured on my other post, but you'll see that I have a lot or critters. So far, no loss (knock on virtual wood), but I will continue to keep you posted so we can keep on compairing notes.

 

[Joeyb1731]

Yea so on thursday, I noticed no nitrites, But i waited, Friday no nitrites, so I put a bunch of fishhy food in there, saturday morning no nitrites. Sunday afternoon I decided to go get some more snails, I got 5, 3 margaritas, and 1 turbo. The margaritas are on the bigger side. I acclimated them for 2 hours and 45 minutes, 45 minutes temp and 2 hours of dripping. I put them in about 3pm on sunday, I tested at 1130 pm on sunday night and all was good.Today at 3 pm i tested the water, Nitrites are back AGAIN. Its a small amount, under .25 but still I just dont get it. I hope that this will do the same thing as last week and be a quick little spike and then done. I really wanna get fish next weekend but im nervous.

 

[DarthPadre]

No second spike for me, luckily. Check out the journal.