nitrate/nitrite help
- Thread starter zspidel
- Start date
knobhill;3961122; said:
Nonsense, first nitrate has nothing to do with cycling a tank. It is a byproduct of the biological cycle and adding nitrates to an uncycled tank provides absolutely no benefit whatsoever. Actually, considering you should be monitoring to see a rise in nitrate levels to give you an indication that the cycling process has begun, adding nitrates could hinder the testing process.
Second In order to cycle a tank, more then just trace amounts of ammonia are needed. An ammonia source, whether it be from fish, rotting shrimp or pure bottled ammonia has to be present. This is food for the beneficial bacteria, without it there is no growth.
Adding water from a cycled tank will in no way speed up or even help start the cycling process. Not to mention if the water is from a properly cycled tank to start there will not even be any ammonia anyhow.
zspidel;3961858; said:
Really hard to understand your words. The water whether fresh or "cycled" will have no bearing on the time frame for cycling the tank.
+1water change everyweek.... oh and your tank is not cycled yet. i refuse to use chemicals so just do water changes ...time will cycle your tank !
Lets see if we understand the process now
Rotting food -> Ammonia
Ammonia -> Nitrites NO2
Nitrites NO2 -> Nitrates NO3
Nitrogen Cycle Stages
Stage 1
Ammonia is introduced into the aquarium via tropical fish waste and uneaten food. The tropical fish waste and excess food will break down into either ionized ammonium (NH4) or un-ionized ammonia (NH3). Ammonium is not harmful to tropical fish but ammonia is. Whether the material turns into ammonium or ammonia depends on the ph level of the water. If the ph is under 7, you will have ammonium. If the ph is 7 or higher you will have ammonia.
Stage 2
Soon, bacteria called nitrosomonas will develop and they will oxidize the ammonia in the tank, essentially eliminating it. The byproduct of ammonia oxidation is Nitrites. So we no longer have ammonia in the tank, but we now have another toxin to deal with - Nitrites. Nitrites are just as toxic to tropical fish as ammonia. If you have a test kit, you should be able to see the nitrite levels rise around the end of the first or second week.
Stage 3
Bacteria called nitrobacter will develop and they will convert the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are not as harmful to tropical fish as ammonia or nitrites, but nitrate is still harmful in large amounts. The quickest way to rid your aquarium of nitrates is to perform partial water changes. Once your tank is established you will need to monitor your tank water for high nitrate levels and perform partial water changes as necessary. There are other methods to control nitrates in aquariums besides water changes. For freshwater fish tanks, live aquarium plants will use up some of the nitrates. In saltwater fish tanks, live rock and deep sand beds can have anaerobic areas where denitrifying bacteria can breakdown nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas that escapes through the water surface of the aquarium.
Rotting food -> Ammonia
Ammonia -> Nitrites NO2
Nitrites NO2 -> Nitrates NO3
Nitrogen Cycle Stages
Stage 1
Ammonia is introduced into the aquarium via tropical fish waste and uneaten food. The tropical fish waste and excess food will break down into either ionized ammonium (NH4) or un-ionized ammonia (NH3). Ammonium is not harmful to tropical fish but ammonia is. Whether the material turns into ammonium or ammonia depends on the ph level of the water. If the ph is under 7, you will have ammonium. If the ph is 7 or higher you will have ammonia.
Stage 2
Soon, bacteria called nitrosomonas will develop and they will oxidize the ammonia in the tank, essentially eliminating it. The byproduct of ammonia oxidation is Nitrites. So we no longer have ammonia in the tank, but we now have another toxin to deal with - Nitrites. Nitrites are just as toxic to tropical fish as ammonia. If you have a test kit, you should be able to see the nitrite levels rise around the end of the first or second week.
Stage 3
Bacteria called nitrobacter will develop and they will convert the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are not as harmful to tropical fish as ammonia or nitrites, but nitrate is still harmful in large amounts. The quickest way to rid your aquarium of nitrates is to perform partial water changes. Once your tank is established you will need to monitor your tank water for high nitrate levels and perform partial water changes as necessary. There are other methods to control nitrates in aquariums besides water changes. For freshwater fish tanks, live aquarium plants will use up some of the nitrates. In saltwater fish tanks, live rock and deep sand beds can have anaerobic areas where denitrifying bacteria can breakdown nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas that escapes through the water surface of the aquarium.
zspidel;3962174; said:
If you have new filters, then yes. If you are bringing over a cycled filter, then the tank would be cycled. However, you should do water changes daily for the first week or so just to be safe.
