Neptune Aquatics

Nitrogen cycle. No nitrates

Matthew Meyer

Matthew Meyer

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It has been 3 weeks since adding my live sand and several bacteria cultures to the aquarium to do the fishless cycle. Several times I have dosed Dr. Tims and brought the ammonia up to 2ppm and nitrites up to 0.5, but I never get any nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite always goes back to zero in 24 hrs and i repeat the process. Nitrates have never been greater than 10.

Am I cycled?
 
General consensus is once you're tank can process 2-3ppm ammonia in 24 hrs (back down to 0 ammonia). (4ppm per day if you want to go full bioload right away, which I strongly advise against)

From what you stated it sounds like you are cycled.
 
Sounds like your tank is doing fine. You need a much more sensitive nitrate test, if you can only detect greater than 10 it isn’t very useful. Greater than 10 nitrate is a LOT of nitrate. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had that much.

Cycling isn’t a 1-time thing, it is a constant forever thing. You need a constant supply of ammonia from organisms to keep it going or else the bacteria will go dormant or switch food source. You should add a small bioload and keep testing.
 
Sounds like your basic cycle is ready to go. With live sand, cooked rocks and Fritz turbo I was clear of the Nitrogen Cycle in in a few days. I did have higher detectable Nitrates then 10 though. Maybe your test kit is bad. You should have a better one anyways. Looks like most people like the Nyos brand Nitrate kit now and I have been using it. Easy to do and read results.

Get some fish food in he tank so you can add Phosphate as well. The bacteria need that as a food source as well.
 
JVU said:
Sounds like your tank is doing fine. You need a much more sensitive nitrate test, if you can only detect greater than 10 it isn’t very useful. Greater than 10 nitrate is a LOT of nitrate. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had that much.
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I’m a fan of the high range Hanna Checker.

Hanna Marine Nitrate High Range Checker | Premium Aquatics

premiumaquatics.com

Make sure to not get the low range, slightly tedious test procedure and, in my opinion, probably an unnecessary product for us hobbyists.
 
What is the idea behind using a high range test kit? If it gets high I do a water change. Why dobI need an accurate HR kit? Am i missing something?
 
the low range reads way to low and is a 2 part test. Only reads up to 5 ppm. The high range is just about right for our tanks. Look at the range specs.
 
Matthew Meyer said:
What is the idea behind using a high range test kit? If it gets high I do a water change. Why dobI need an accurate HR kit? Am i missing something?
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Knowing your nitrate and phosphate levels and keeping them in ratio to each other are an important part of reef keeping and will help avoid cyano and dino outbreaks.
 
For nitrate testing I use the Red Sea Nitrate Pro test kit. It took me a while to find one I like. Easy to perform and easier to read than most out there.
 
JimWelsh said:
Salifert nitrate test kit for the win!
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I used the Salifert nitrate test for years. I still use Salifert for multiple other tests (Alk, Ca, Mg). I thought it was simple and reproducible, but was always kinda hard for me to read, comparing the color of transmitted light through fluid vs reflected light off the reference card, with subtle shade differences. The Red Sea nitrate pro kit makes it easy.
 
JVU said:
I used the Salifert nitrate test for years. I still use Salifert for multiple other tests (Alk, Ca, Mg). I thought it was simple and reproducible, but was always kinda hard for me to read, comparing the color of transmitted light through fluid vs reflected light off the reference card, with subtle shade differences. The Red Sea nitrate pro kit makes it easy.
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I've had the exact opposite experience, personally. Salifert nitrate test has always been very easy for me to read, and I'm able to get consistent results. I just rest the vial on the card (high range) or hold the card right up against the side of the vial (low range) with diffuse sunlight behind me. The Red Sea nitrate pro kit makes me struggle with the angle of the incident light, and are you supposed to let all that sediment settle out or what? Funny how personal preferences / challenges like this vary from person to person.
 
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Matthew Meyer said:
What is the idea behind using a high range test kit? If it gets high I do a water change. Why dobI need an accurate HR kit? Am i missing something?
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I like the Hanna checkers because I don’t trust my eyes or the lights in the room to get the right shade of color. And I always have a knack for squirting the syringe when I need a drop or two more when doing a tritration.

Here’s the stats between the low & high range checkers.

Low range checker:
  • Range: 0.0 to 5.0 ppm (as NO3-) / 0.0 to 50 ppm (calculated) using dilution
  • Resolution: 0.01 ppm
  • Precision: ±0.25 ppm ±2% of reading @ 77°F (25°C) / ±2.5 ppm ±5 of calculated reading using dilution
High Range checker:
  • Range: 0.0 to 75.0 ppm (as NO3-)
  • Resolution: 0.1 ppm
  • Precision: ±2 ppm ±5% of reading @ 77°F (25°C)
 
Don't think a bottle product can wipe out Nitrate or we would all buy it. Think you should get a second test kit. You will need it anyways as that is a long term test you will be doing.
Either way, pretty sure you are ready for fish and easy corals.
 
Matthew Meyer said:
Uhh. I think i figured it out. I used some microbacter7.....
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Microbacter 7 does not specifically eliminate nitrates if that’s what you are implying, despite what they say. Especially not just nitrates like you will see when dosing ammonia (without carbon, phosphate, and other nutrients required for bacterial growth).
 
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