Will Penfold
Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 64
Read this article by Randy Holmes-Farley on Nitrite in reef tanks
It's a fascinating read, and would encourage you to read it if you haven't before.
The TL/ DR version is while nitrite is still considered harmful to freshwater fish, it isn't nearly as harmful to marine fish as originally thought because chloride outcompetes nitrite for the same uptake mechanisms in saltwater fish's gills. The article continues to say that nitrite would still be harmful in very large quantities, but the small amounts found in reef tanks are not considered harmful.
During my most recent tank cycle in January, I read a ton of Reef2Reef posts and there is a growing belief over there that once your tank is capable of converting ammonia to nitrite then the cycle is safe enough for fish.
I found this who thing very interesting because I have always operated under the commonly taught position that your cycle isn't safe until your tank registers 0ppm Ammonia and 0ppm Nitrite.
Anyways, thoughts?
It's a fascinating read, and would encourage you to read it if you haven't before.
The TL/ DR version is while nitrite is still considered harmful to freshwater fish, it isn't nearly as harmful to marine fish as originally thought because chloride outcompetes nitrite for the same uptake mechanisms in saltwater fish's gills. The article continues to say that nitrite would still be harmful in very large quantities, but the small amounts found in reef tanks are not considered harmful.
During my most recent tank cycle in January, I read a ton of Reef2Reef posts and there is a growing belief over there that once your tank is capable of converting ammonia to nitrite then the cycle is safe enough for fish.
I found this who thing very interesting because I have always operated under the commonly taught position that your cycle isn't safe until your tank registers 0ppm Ammonia and 0ppm Nitrite.
Anyways, thoughts?
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