Tank Cycling, Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 200

[karaim]

I have a question.

My father had a small 20 gallon salt water aquarium. The fish in the aquarium died about 4-5 month ago. But my father never emptied the aquarium, however the water evaporated about half way. So there was only about 10 gallons of water in the 20 gallon tank.

When I measured the salinity, it was about 1.32 - so I filled up the tank, making the salinity approximately 1.24.

I also added some dry rock.

Today, I bought a test kit and measured ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH and Alkalinity. Here are my results:

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 200 (HOLY CRAP)
Alkalinity = 180
PH = 8.75

What do these results indicate? Does this mean I can add a fish (after I lower the PH of course)? How much longer should I wait.

The reason I ask is that I didn't really add anything that causes ammonia, so techically the tank should be fish ready.

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

Your nitrate is scarely high.
That would kill a fish with no problems.
How did it get that high?

 

[fishlover500]

In the salinity you mean 1.024?
Also you could lower the Ph depending on what fish you're going to be keeping.

In terms of high nitrates the best thing is massive water changes, and siphoning the substrate can help.

 

[@ombomb]

what test kits are you using?

do a few BIG water changes, should get the stats in order although if the tanks been empty for 4-5 months, i'd of thought there's not much life left in your "live" rock

 

[karaim]

Thanks for the replies. I am not sure how the nitrate got this high. Like I said there has been no fish in the aquarium for 4-5 months. I am not sure if the rock is "alive," but there was A LOT of brown algae, which I cleaned off several days ago.

I ordered 70 pounds of live fiji rock, which should come in within 3-4 days. I will put the rock in the tank and see what happens. It is possible that that there is no bacteria left in the tank, but I am not sure.

I will eventually be setting up a 120 gallon tank, and just using my father's 20 gallon to cure my rock.

I know that the nitrogen cycle goes from Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrate. Since my Ammonia and Nitrite is 0, I figure that's a good thing, but the insane amount of Nitrate is definately not good.

Should I do a water change or is there no point since there is no fish in the tank?

In the salinity you mean 1.024?
Also you could lower the Ph depending on what fish you're going to be keeping.

In terms of high nitrates the best thing is massive water changes, and siphoning the substrate can help.

Yeah, I meant 1.024. Sorry.

In the salinity you mean 1.024?
Also you could lower the Ph depending on what fish you're going to be keeping.

In terms of high nitrates the best thing is massive water changes, and siphoning the substrate can help.

How do I know if there is any life in the LR?

 

[karaim]

what test kits are you using?

I am using "Pentair Aquatics" 5 Way Test Strips. It's for both salt and fresh water.

I tested my regular tap water and it showed 0 for Nitrate, so I assume it works properly. It's new.

 

[karaim]

Also I have a general question about cycling a tank. From what I understand, there is bacteria that turns ammonia into nitrite and there is bacteria that turns nitrite into nitrate. During live rock curing, there is some die off and then some ammonia, which allows bacteria to grow to eat the ammonia. But what happens after the ammonia is gone? Does the bacteria that turned the ammonia into nitrate die off since it has nothing else to feed on?

 

[SkiFletch]

The dieoff on the rocks will fuel the bacteria for probably 2-4 weeks. After that, it might not be a bad idea to add a few drops of ammonia to the system daily similar to freshwater cycling to maintain the nintrogenous bacteria

 

[karaim]

The dieoff on the rocks will fuel the bacteria for probably 2-4 weeks. After that, it might not be a bad idea to add a few drops of ammonia to the system daily similar to freshwater cycling to maintain the nintrogenous bacteria

Thanks. Is that what they do at the LFS? I mean my LFS has no fish in the tank where they have live rock. I assume they add ammonia to keep the live rock "alive."

 

[andywg]

Your nitrate is scarely high.
That would kill a fish with no problems.

Really?

All ther esearch I have read shows that this is not the case with fish. Scott Michael poitns out that even sensitive sharks can survive easily into 400ppm+ but recommends 100ppm as a safe buffer limit to aim for.

Do you have any evidence that 200ppm nitrate can easily kill a fish?

 

[Don Trinko]

I agree that 100 ppm nitrates will not kill most fish but it is to high. In your situation IMO the live rock is dead and the tank is not cycled. Why not take out all the water and fill with new?
I'm no expert but WC is one of the best and simplest ways to lower nitrates. Also was this a test strip? they are not known for accuracy. My test strips will show 80 nitrates but when I test with the liquid test it is 40. I have discus so I do a lot of nitrate testing. I keep my discus tanks abought 5, My angels below 20 and my comunity 40 or less. I know SW is different but WC will lower your nitrates unless you have nitrates in your fill water. Don T.

 

[karaim]

I agree that 100 ppm nitrates will not kill most fish but it is to high. In your situation IMO the live rock is dead and the tank is not cycled. Why not take out all the water and fill with new?
I'm no expert but WC is one of the best and simplest ways to lower nitrates. Also was this a test strip? they are not known for accuracy. My test strips will show 80 nitrates but when I test with the liquid test it is 40. I have discus so I do a lot of nitrate testing. I keep my discus tanks abought 5, My angels below 20 and my comunity 40 or less. I know SW is different but WC will lower your nitrates unless you have nitrates in your fill water. Don T.

I did use test strips. Should I buy the liquid ones?

I will do a huge water change when I get home tonight.

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

Do you have any evidence that 200ppm nitrate can easily kill a fish?

Well when I had my tropical fish tank my nitrate got up to 120 and killed about 8 of my fish and the nitrate was the only thing that I could point the blame at.

Even if it woldnt kill your fish though, its still high and would be atlot better for your fish at a much lower level.

 

[Don Trinko]

I would get the liquid test kits. They are more accurate. I had a fish die inside the guarantee so I took it back to the LFS. They said my water was ok but my nitrates were high( 80 with test strip) I went home and tested the same water with my liquid test kit. It said 40. Don T.

 

[andywg]

Well when I had my tropical fish tank my nitrate got up to 120 and killed about 8 of my fish and the nitrate was the only thing that I could point the blame at.

But I somehow doubt you performed a necropsy on the fish that died and then also performed a full test on everything that could have been in the water. As a result, coming to the conclusion that nitrates were the problem is not one made on evidence.

Even if it woldnt kill your fish though, its still high and would be atlot better for your fish at a much lower level.

Actually, the scientific papers I have seen do not show any long term effects (such as even slower growth, which is often the first indicator of problems) with nitrates under 400ppm which would indicate there is little benefit between keeping nitrates at 200ppm or 40ppm or 0ppm for fish. While striving for lower nitrates is far from a bad aim, I fear they have taken on a mythical nature now with most people and websites giving advice that isn't based in science.

One apparent exception to this is young fry which tend to prefer nitrates under 100ppm in the first week or few of life (though these species can withstand 1,000s of ppm once adults)

I would get the liquid test kits. They are more accurate. I had a fish die inside the guarantee so I took it back to the LFS. They said my water was ok but my nitrates were high( 80 with test strip) I went home and tested the same water with my liquid test kit. It said 40. Don T.

Both liquid and strip kits are woefully inaccurate, and will almost always read higher than the true level. My old API nitrate test kit would measure 160ppm on pure RO water (TDS reading 5ppm or less) mixed with salt. Someone else on the forum complained of nitrates in their tap water and had the water board out with an expensive and well calibrated electric test. Where her liquid test was reading something like 80+ the "true" value was 27ppm.