Nitrates and Nitrites bottomed out...

[DETWingsFan]

I have had my 55 gal. marine tank setup for 45 days now. I have been very diligent in watching the cycling of the tank as it was stocked from day five.

It began cycling Ammonia after the first week. but it has taken quite awhile to get the tank to cycle Nitrite. I havent notice much nitrite -> nitrate consumption. Before I decided to do my bi weekly 20% change I noticed that both the nitrite had been completely consumed and the nitrates had actually dropped as well (around 20).

It is possible that the bacteria in the bio-wheels are consuming the nitrate and releasing nitrogen into the air? I am just confused as to how the nitrates dropped as they have.

My setup is as follows:

Magnum 350 Canister outputs direct and via 2 large spray Bio-wheels.
Protein Skimmer
1 Powerhead (for surface circulation)

 

[tstenback]

Perhaps your questions should be moved tothe saltwater forum on this site. I can try to give you an explanation but it would be strictly freshwater based and i would be afraid that the differences in marine and freshwater chemistry would be enough to ruin your setup. HTH

 

[crazie.eddie]

The canister filter is the wrong filter to use for a marine tank. You should be using a Wet/Dry filter with a sump. You should remove the bioballs in the Wet/Dry filter and just use LS & LR.