Nitrates are rising

[Richyrch50]

I will start from the beginning, I bought a new Red Sea Reefer 350 to replace my old 46 gal bow front. Unfortunately the Reefer 350 had to go in the same spot as the 46 gal Bowfront. So I broke down the tank and set up the new Reefer 350. I seeded everything from the old tank, water, Biofiltration media, Mechanical and Chemical (Everything that was in my old Fluval x4 canister filter went inside the reefer sump. All of my fish went into the new tank because I did not have the option nor the space to set up the new the Reefer for 30 or more days. Now to the problem, I tested my water last night and saw that the nitrates are rising. What can I do to keep my fish alive? What can I do to maintain my water parameters?
2 clowns
Foxface
Sand Goby
2 Engineer Gobys
Fireangel
Rock Blenny

[sde1500]

DO a water change. But what number is causing you to ring an alarm? Is it Fish only? How long as the tank been set up? How much rock and sand do you have? Nitrates can be over 100 with no adverse affects if you don't have corals.

[Richyrch50]

I will check all water parameters when get off work and upload pictures.Hopefully this helps. From the red sea test kit it was 0.05. (Last night results). The new tank has only been set up for 4 days. The old tank 1 year. When I did the transfer I used new sand 40 pounds (Fiji live sand). There's about 45 pounds of live rock. Live rock is about a year old that was transfer from the old tank. I also have a MarinePure Block that is also about a 1 year old from the old tank. I have two Anemones.

[sde1500]

You're ringing a warning bell at .05 nitrates? That would be barely detectable.

[pisanoal]

Originally Posted by Richyrch50

I will check all water parameters when get off work and upload pictures.Hopefully this helps. From the red sea test kit it was 0.05. (Last night results). The new tank has only been set up for 4 days. The old tank 1 year. When I did the transfer I used new sand 40 pounds (Fiji live sand). There's about 45 pounds of live rock. Live rock is about a year old that was transfer from the old tank. I also have a MarinePure Block that is also about a 1 year old from the old tank. I have two Anemones.

Mini Cycle. Even though you are using established rock, you have new sand and moved everything, so it upset the balance. Give it time to stabilize. As others said, 0.05 is barely detectable, I wouldn't start worrying unless the trend continues over a couple months and you start seeing double digits on nitrate.

[Richyrch50]

Sorry I ment (Nitrite) not Nitrates, Ughhh Sorry about that. But you're right Nitrate at that level are fine. However, I do not know much about Nitrite as I never had to deal with this. I always had good water levels. How bad are Nitrites at 0.05? I am sure when I get home this afternoon and test it again it will probably be higher. Again I'm so sorry for the confusion . Rooky mistake .

[VoltzNSalt]

While nitrite is a part of the ammonia cycle, I only test for ammonia and nitrate...

Not sure what your water change schedule is like but I would do 20% per week for the first month while everything is settling back in.

[NS Mike D]

Nitrite is far less toxic in a marine tank than freshwater. For example, and article I read by Randy Holmes-Farley sites a study that 344ppm is the lethal level for clown fish.

As mentioned, you have a mini-cycle going on and the bacteria need to get back in balance.

I would presume adding bottled commercial bacteria might help, but at 0.05 in a tank that likely has a decent amount of established bacteria, you should get to equilibrium ok.


ammonia is far more lethal - are you testing that at zero?

[nereefpat]

Originally Posted by NS Mike D

ammonia is far more lethal - are you testing that at zero?

That's what I would be tracking.

Nitrite at 0.05ppm wouldn't concern me at all.

[sde1500]

Ok that makes so much more sense. Yea as others have said, mini cycle, nothing to worry as long as ammonia doesn't spike.

[Richyrch50]

commercial bacteria? I added a bottle of Bio- Spira rated to 75 Gal. ( I have 91 gal). I added that this past sunday and was thinking about adding another bottle this upcoming sunday. Is that ok? And yes I have been testing for ammonia and is at zero thank god.

[Daddi0]

I personally dont see the need to add more bacteria. A little time/patience and the tank should take care of itself. Just keep an eye on your parameters and do water changes as needed.
Cheers! Mark

[Richyrch50]

I will properly just let the tank settle in and let the bacteria balance out. If things get crazy I will do a combination of water change and add more bacteria. Thank you guys! You all have been very helpful. Ill post pictures when I get home of my tank levels. if anything is out of whack you guys will be able to help.

[bertoni]

Nitrite at that level is safe enough for fish. If you are worried, water changes would reduce the level. SeaChem advertises Prime as neutralizing nitrite, although I am not sure how true that is. I personally wouldn't worry until the level hit more like 0.5 or 1 ppm.

[Richyrch50]

Hey guys so test results have been fine so far, I know I am a little late but I haven't notice anything wrong with the tank until now. So now I am having a bit of a Ich problem. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have been trying to let ICH go away naturally with water changes and good feeding. I haven't really notice any positive results. I have a few fish that are still scratching on rocks and sand

[top shelf]

Ich won't go away on its own. You must remove all fish from the tank to qt. Depending how many and size of your fish will determine the size of tank and how many you need. Then let tank go fallow for 72 days. The safest and best method by far for curing ich is the ttm. You will need to transfer the fish to a new tank every 72hrs for 14 days. If you do a search for tank transfer method it will go more in depth but that gives you the idea.

[bertoni]

Marine ich is a parasite, and there are a few proven methods of treating it. You could move the fish into a hospital tank and treat with copper, or try the tank transfer method, which requires moving the fish into a newly sterilized tank frequently for a while. I haven't checked the protocols for either in a while, but we can provide a pointer.

Ich might die out or at least come under control over some period of time if the fishes' immune systems can protect well enough against the parasite, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Richyrch50]

These are all great idea and I would love to try them out, unfortunately I do not have the space and I also don’t have a 2nd established thank on hand. Has anyone had any success with medication? What I am trying now is seachem focus, seachem metreoplex with seachem garlic. I started today, one spoon of focus and meteroplex mix with garlic. I let it sit for 30min then feed. I’m going to try this for week. If you anyone has any suggestions with medication please share. Thanks.

[top shelf]

bertoni mentioned copper treatment, there is a good right up on it in the stickies. Again though all your fish will need removed to qt as well. You don't want to dose the main display with copper as the rocks will absorb it and leech it over time and the likely hood of ever being able to keep inverts or corals is slim to none. You don't need an established tank however, 5g buckets with airstone and heater will work just as well.

[bertoni]

None of the medications are going to do anything. You could wait to see whether the fishes' immune systems can at least moderate the disease.

[sde1500]

There is no real safe option to treat the DT. The only option with not removing the fish is to make sure they are as healthy as possible and hope their immune system is good enough to beat it.