So are nitrites harmful to saltwater fish or no?

[STiTCH87]

I have heard so many mixed opinions as to weather or not nitrites are harmful to saltwater fish during the nitrogen cycle. I know ammonia is, and have read nitrite is as well, but have also read many times that in saltwater, nitrites aren't harmful really, especially when it's only the nitrogen cycle because eventually the nitrites go away instead of being in the water with the fish for a lengthy amount of time.

My current nitrite level is 1.0ppm

Ammonia is zero and nitrate is 10ppm.

I would like to add in a pajama cardinalfish and a few snails this Sunday if I can, but I obviously don't want to lose them to nitrite poisoning.

I have already gotten a few opinions, but decided i'd like to get more opinions on this.

Oh and btw, I have been testing out SeaChem Stability for a guy at my LFS who swears it works and these are the results thus far:

Before SeaChem: Ammonia 0.0ppm, Nitrite 1.0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm
Day 1: Ammonia 0.0ppm, Nitrite 1.0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm
Day 2: Ammonia 0.0ppm, Nitrite 1.0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm
Day 3: Ammonia 0.0ppm, Nitrite 1.0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm

Yeah... product doesn't work, as I suspected...

It's okay he guaranteed it would or my money back so... Money back it is. Lol. And it's my girl that bought it for me so, her money back really. But she wants to buy a pj cardinal with the money cuz it's her favorite fish aisde from a cowfish which won't work in a 29g ofcourse.

 

[DoctaQ]

nitrites are non toxic in saltwater but the bigger issue here is that your cycle is not done yet, i wouldnt add anything until you have no more nitrites.

 

[STiTCH87]

Well there I would agree, but that leads me to this question...

If nitrites are non-toxic in a marine set-up, then why is it necessary to wait until the tank is fully cycles if the ammonia part of cycling is already completed? Don't I already have the bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite as fully grown as their gonna be without livestock added to the tank? Cuz if there's no ammonia being added, then no ammonia>nitrite bacteria are going to increase since they'd have no food, and I will only be increasing the nitrite>nitrate bacteria. Correct?

 

[wrassefan]

if you have nitrites...you have ammonia....everything you add right now will die..
Basic fish and reef keeping 101. Wait for your tank to finish cycling Takes upto 8wks.....spend the time being patient and read up on FO and reefing. Otherwise, get ready to spend some money and keep killing everything. Again...read read and read if you are serious about this hobby.

 

[STiTCH87]

How do I have ammonia if I am getting a zero reading on ammonia, and have had a zero reading on ammonia for the past 2 weeks? I don't have ammonia. I have nitrites. And if nitrites are non-toxic, then how will anything (nevermind everything) die? I have been reading for the past 5 weeks while my tank has been cycling, for atleast 6 hours a day about FO, FOWLR, and Reef tanks and everyone tells me opposing answers on everything. Half of everyone says one way is right, then the other half say the exact opposite is right.

I hope I don't sound rude with any of what I just said, truly not my intent by any means, I just don't understand how non-toxic nitrites kill fish and how I can have a zero reading of ammonia and yet supposedly still have ammonia in my water.

EDIT: BTW I already had my ammonia spike and it has been leveled off to zero for 2 weeks. I didn't mention that earlier so maybe that is why you may think I have ammonia still?

 

[coalman]

be patient patient patient no other way, the more you are patient the better you will be

 

[STiTCH87]

Well I don't really mind waiting, I just don't understand how people can have a tank cycled in 3 days and have it stay healthy with no livestock loss for years and years and yet I am stuck 5 weeks later with a tank that isn't fully cycled yet.

I think i'm going to wait one more week (a week from today) and if nitrites haven't lowered at all i'm going to do a 10% waterchange to lower it a bit because I have algae growing EVERYWHERE in this tank and could really use a few snails a.s.a.p. to get rid of it.

 

[number1gsxxr]

If nitrites are non-toxic in a marine set-up, then why is it necessary to wait until the tank is fully cycles if the ammonia part of cycling is already completed?

Because that is only one part of the cycle. You need the whole process.

Yes, you don't have ammonia but you're only halfway there. Nitrates are what you should be worried about.

 

[number1gsxxr]

 

[STiTCH87]

I thought nitrates weren't toxic either as long as you do waterchanges it keep it below 20ppm? I'm so confused. I read up on things all day only to find out what i'm reading is wrong, lol.

Oh, and when I said I have algae everywhere, it's the brown diatom outbreak some people have when cycling a new tank. Atleast my skimmer is working hard and pulling a bunch of crap out of the tank. Though there's brown diatom patches in the skimmer body now but hey as long as it still works. I'll probably clean the pump after the tank is done cycling, along with the powerheads, to make sure everything remains operating correctly.

Forgot to mention, thank you everyone for your help with me and my new tank since day 1.

 

[number1gsxxr]

Absolutely everything is toxic given enough quantity. Even water will kill humans if you ingest enough of it. But yes, nitrates in low levels are generally acceptable and water changes are one method of reducing them.

Edit: It also depends on what you want to keep. Some things are more tolerant.

 

[STiTCH87]

Well I already had my ammonia spike, and my nitrite spike, so I don't expect either to rise at all until I add something for livestock. But it's my understanding that nitrites at 1ppm are safe for fish and nitrates at 10ppm are also safe and I just need to keep monitoring and keep up on my water changes when it's cycled to keep the nitrates down. I'm hoping that in a week nitrites lower a bit more.

 

[naturebatslast]

If you'd like to somewhat speed up your cycle and reduce it by a week or so, you could elevate your temp and then reduce it after cycling. Adding fish to a tank that's not cycled isn't really fair to the fish. Live rock alone has enough biological matter, on it and in it, to start and continue your cycle.
The best thing you could do would be to get some live rock and/or sand from a healthy established tank, more or less seeding a bacterial population.
Most people here will argue against a "fast" cycle, I'm one of them. After seeing similiar questions posed over the last few years, hobbyist that move too quickly normally wind up with other issues and problems, complicating everything. It's understandable to want the tank up and running, but it's very uncommon in this hobby to have good things happen quickly.

 

[STiTCH87]

Yeah my live sand was from an established tank. The rock was dry rock, but all 60# of sand was from an established tank. Yeah I refuse to put any livestock into my tank until I am 100% positive it is safe for them to be in there. I was just thinking nitrites would be safe, but since so many are saying to continue waiting, waiting I shall do...

Does that increased heat method really work? Anyone see a difference with it from experience? If it doesn't really make a difference really then i'd rather not because increased heat = faster water evaporation.

 

[wrassefan]

simplified: given enough bacteria, ammonia is converted to nitrite....once enough bacteria is in your tank, the nitrites will reduce it to nitrates. Nitrates are the least harmful in low doses but you'll prob have algae and other issues. Even with established tank rock and sand, you can have die off of all those benefitial bacterias for whatever reason...now you are cycling again (to some degree)

 

[DoctaQ]

nitrites are usually accompanied by ammonia in a mature tank which is what wrasse was refering to earlier.
you are almost through the cycle, just give it a while longer

 

[Bobbofin]

patience, patience, patience! Wait about six weeks to stock a tank and go slow. Start with a few green chromis then go from there.

 

[afboundguy]

NitrItes are toxic in any amount to almost all fish and nitrAtes can be kept pretty high without being toxic to fish. I wouldn't have any problem with keeping a FOWLR with nitrates around 50 but above 10-20 they're not good for corals...

But I also agree with everybody else about patience and the cycle not being done yet...

 

[STiTCH87]

Nitrites are toxic in freshwater conditions. Studies have been done and the LC50 for nitrites is around 300ppm on average which you will never see in an aquarium. The worst case they saw in their studies was one fish that got a little sluggish at 30ppm but even that is VERY high ppm and you won't see anything above 10ppm in an aquarium for nitrites unless you are doing something insane with your setup and even then, I doubt it.

Nitrates I do agree can be safe(ish) in a FOWLR at around 50ppm, but I am planning to get in the habit of keeping it below 10-20ppm.

Yeah I know the cycle isn't done yet, and I guess I just simply have to continue to wait.
Cycling a tank reminds me of those infomercials "Set it, and forget it!"

Lol. I wish it wasn't in my bedroom sometimes. If it were in my basement I could leave that puppy running for months before thinking to see if it's cycled yet. Next time I set up a tank i'm using 100% used water from an established tank, 100% established sand and fully cured live rock so that next time I don't have to wait this long. That, and I can let it cycle while admiring my current tank. =]

 

[skraj011]

I'm in the same boat. My new 125 FOWLR has been up for 5 weeks. Marco rock, dry sand, and a couple of cups of live sand from my nano. Cycled with shrimp.

Ammonia has come down to 0, nitrites high, nitrates ~10.

I've read the articles by Randy Holmes Farley on RC and he cites other studies that demonstrate that nitrite is non-toxic except at super high concentrations, i.e. >50. Based on this data, I completely follow your logic about adding fish now, despite the fact that the cycle hasn't technically completed yet.

One important issues may be that once the bacteria responsible for converting nitrites to nitrates have really multiply the nitrate concentration may quickly get out of hand. I think this is unlikely as one molecule of nitrite is converted to one molecule of nitrate, so even if all of the your nitrites were converted to nitrates at once the concentration would only be whatever your nitrite concentration was.

I'm going to add a fish this w/e and keep track of what happens to the nitrogen cycle before and after. It is very possible that only the ammonia to nitrite portion of the cycle is critical and that conventional wisdom is flawed.