Are high nitrates part of the cycling process?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
M

mzhantsche

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2010
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I just upgraded to a 180gal tank. I used two canister filters that were on my previous 110gal tank. I kept the filters running in cycled water the whole time i was doing the upgrade.

I saved all my water from the old tank and added it to the new tank. I saved all the old sand pluse i added 50 pounds of new sand ( i soaked the new sand in cycled tank water for about a week).

I tried to keep as much of the bacteria from the old tank as i could. I have 3 11" bichirs and a 16" arowana in the new tank now.

My question is....The nitrates are slowly climbing. They started at 20ppm and are now up to 80ppm after 24 hours of running the new tank. Is a rise in nitrates to that level part of the cycling process? I want to do small water changes to bring the nitrates down but i dont want to inturupt the cycling process.

I check nitrates,nitries, and ammonia about every 12 hours. Ammonia and nitrites are still at 0ppm.

Should i do some water changes?
 
Water changes are the only way to get rid of nitrates.....i suggest you do 50% right away to keep Nitrates around 40 max. i recently did two water changes as my nitrates rose to 80ppm and one weekly water change was not enough.
 
You re at the end of your cycle. The high nitrates are most likely from you using the old tank water, which really serves no purpose. Do a 50% water change and monitor your parameters over the next week. You should be cycled and ready to go.

You may want to check your tap while you're at it to be safe.
 
I changed about 30% of the water last night. My nitrates got even higher. Is it safe to change 30% again tonight. I dont want to stress the fish out but i have to get these nitrates down. Maybe ill do an actual 50% change tonight? I use RO water from the fish store and doing a 90gal water change make thing difficult. I will still do it but thats why i only did a 30% last night.
 
One large water change should definity help, what you should have done is just used the sand and the filters from the old tank like you did, but completely new water, with the same temperature and ph.
 
Sooooo...turns out you have to make sure the API Nitrate test stays cool. I kept it under my tank in a room that gets pritty hot. I tested my nitrates with my LFS API test and it was 0ppm. Its always the little stuff. Thanks everyone. Maybe this thread will help other people not make my mistake.
 
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