Cycling a tank with sodium nitrite.

[Galabar]

I've successfully cycled tanks with ammonia.  However, that requires that nitrite builds up before nitrite->nitrate bacteria grow.

I'd like to try a cycle with both ammonia and nitrite.  However, pure sodium nitrite isn't necessarily something that is readily available or safe to handle.

Would something like curing salt be a reasonable source?

I'm thinking of testing this with a "sterile" tank and filter to see how quickly bacteria can build up to consume both ammonia and nitrite.  Of course, I think the best approach would be with seasoned filter media along with ammonia and nitrite, but I'm just curious how long various combinations would take.

Maybe Dr. Tim's could take a note here and add both to their product... 🙂

Edited January 10 by Galabar

[Fish Folk]

I suspect you may find that curing salt contains a very low percentage of sodium nitrite. A lot of it will be just sodium chloride. 

Additionally, excess sodium may pose serious challenges to establishing a healthy biome.

But… me being a “once-upon-a-time-wanna-be-a-chemist” … I think you should test your theory, keep us posted, and try to document your results.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I think the salt creep is a factor as @Fish Folk mentioned. Many plants, fish and others will not respond well to that level of salinity. It will take a lot of water changes to lower the level of salinity on the other end of your cycle. I also worry about the stability of that cycle. Brackish tanks and salt water setups have different biomes to a typical tropical planted tanks. You could expect some die offs as you reverse the salinity causing cloudy water and funk. I’m really curious what this will yield! Have fun!

[Galabar]

On 1/11/2024 at 8:25 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I think the salt creep is a factor as @Fish Folk mentioned. Many plants, fish and others will not respond well to that level of salinity. It will take a lot of water changes to lower the level of salinity on the other end of your cycle. I also worry about the stability of that cycle. Brackish tanks and salt water setups have different biomes to a typical tropical planted tanks. You could expect some die offs as you reverse the salinity causing cloudy water and funk. I’m really curious what this will yield! Have fun!

Given that the curing salt is only 6.25% sodium nitrite (with the rest being sodium chloride), I would probably agree.  I'm not sure how much would be needed to achieve 2ppm nitrite.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Galabaritll be an interesting experiment. With a clean tank, ammonia and no other sources of nitrite - I think nitrosomas is 7 hours and nitrobacter is 13 hours in optimal conditions in terms of duplication but under usual conditions it’s 48-72 hours from waste water literature. Can’t wait to see your results. Have fun!

[Galabar]

On 1/11/2024 at 10:25 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Galabaritll be an interesting experiment. With a clean tank, ammonia and no other sources of nitrite - I think nitrosomas is 7 hours and nitrobacter is 13 hours in optimal conditions in terms of duplication but under usual conditions it’s 48-72 hours from waste water literature. Can’t wait to see your results. Have fun!

Thanks.  I'm thinking 3 10 gallon tanks with 1 sponge filter each.  One tank with no inputs (control), one with just ammonia, and one with ammonia and nitrite (if I can find a good source).