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Cycle: Nitrates magically going down

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Its day 22 cycling my 40B and I'm noticing unusual readings... I know there's bacteria that breaks down Ammonia to Nitrite and other type breaking down Nitrite to Nitrate.

I've been dosing 10ml of MicroBacter7 everyday later also dosed Fritz9 (emptied a full bottle in the tank) which is when Nitrates shot up I guess.

From my knowledge, removing Nitrates is either by PWCs, GFO or a fuge... While I've been dosing pure Ammonia and I'm seeing Nitrites varying, My Nitrates shot up and gradually reducing!!! The charts below will explain better...

Ammonia
ammonia.png


Nitrite
nitrite.png


Nitrate
nitrate.png


All Readings
Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.51.34 PM.png


My Nitrites are piling up cos Ammonia is broken down very fast but Nitrites slower? Do I continue dosing Ammonia & piling up Nitrites until the bacteria is strong enough to break down all Nitrites? (or do I pause dosing Ammonia until the Nitrites are 0)

Thanks
 
I would just continue with the macrobacter7. Don't be in a hurry! The tank will cycle itself. The bacteria needs time to build, and the macrobacter is helping. Your test results should show the ammonia going up for a few days , then going to zero, with a spike in nitrites , then they should go to zero in a week or so, and then the nitrates will show up and they should also decline as the tank finishes the cycle. To feed the bacteria start to add some reef cleaners, snails and maybe hermit crabs. These will need some feeding which will add nutrition for algae growth, but the cleaners will take care of that problem. Also you probably will will have an outbreak of diatoms. Not harmful, but not god looking. May take a few weeks or even a month or so for them to run their course. Turbo snails cleaned mine up.
 
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Yes ammonia and nitrites have to be zero. Nitrates on the other hand can be present, maybe in the 20- 40 range, but should not last long. Water changes and the macrobacter should keep the nitrates under control unless you over feed. Feed some to the cuc but they don't need a lot. My ammonia and nitrites took about a month to zero out. The key to keeping a reef tank is a lot of patience . Good luck.
 
Water changes and carbon dosing help lower nitrates. GFO and macro algae in a fuge help lower phosphates. Once you add ammonia and get a zero reading across the board (ammonia to nitrate) you are good to go. I would suggest waiting a few months to let the micro fauna a chance to grow in your tank. I like your graphs!
 
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Nitrates are also removed by bacteria in live rock.
Inside the rock there are anaerobic zones, and those bacteria can convert
nitrate to nitrogen gas.
 
Kensington Reefer said:
Water changes are easy, reliable, and your best friend.
That is assuming the new water is "ideal"
Click to expand...

In drought stricken California, wasting water probably isn't a good idea...

Fritz makes a fine product, they also make most the other bacterial products on the market. Their aquarium division is NOTHING compared to their commercial waste water remediation division.
 
Navdeep said:
That's exactly what a friend told me and I didn't believe him first. He told me the bacteria on Fritz9 helps keep Nitrates down...
Click to expand...

The bacteria in Fritz9 are "Nitrifying."
Meaning, they turn ammonia/nitrite into nitrate.
What you need for getting rid of the end nitrate products is "Denitrifying".
As far as I know, Fritz does not sell anything like that.

I don't think bacteria can convert Nitrates in the presence of much oxygen, because it binds better.
So it really happens inside live rock, or inside some bacterial mats, like on bio-pellets.

Algae can convert it quite well though.

GFO does not bind nitrates either. That is for phosphates.
 
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Definitely be patient. I just passed 4 weeks of cycling (this past Saturday) my 'new' 20L. Ammonia and nitrites read zero and my nitrates were at about 40+ ppm. I just started the skimmer a couple days ago and just dropped in some pods that I ordered from eBay.

I'm going to monitor the nitrates and probably do some water changes while the pods establish themselves and level out the parameters. I'll continue ghost feeding the tank to keep bacteria going as well. After a few weeks, I'll slowly introduce quarantined fish and CUC, one or two at a time, of any combination. I definitely think using this methodology this time around will provide better results in my tank and probably could do the same for you, @Navdeep.
 
Cool, thx for the advise @denzil. When in the process are you planning on a major water change?

Did u get a diatom bloom?

Can I introduce pods and CUC together after ammonia & nitrite drop to 0?
 
Good advise Denzil. Anything can be added after the tank has cycled. But go slow as Denzil has stated. Go slow and everything will work out,and by going slow if you encounter any problems, which most everyone does it is easier to correct.
 
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