What can I expect during cycle?

[havefun]

I've had 2 shrimp rotting in my 75g tank for 19 days now. My ammonia has tested about the same since last wednesday and my nitrite is starting to rise (since last Saturday). Since this is getting rather boring are there signs to look for in the tank to help me know how far along in the cycle I am? I belive Diatoms <sp> will start growing and then die off but I don't know when. Are there other things I can look for?

 

[Jchillin]

What are your levels at this point?

You should be looking for an ammonia "spike" which is somewhere between 2-5ppm. At that point, nitrites will be detected. After a similiar nitrite spike, nitrate will be present. Diatoms will show sometime afterward.

 

[havefun]

I'm using the Salifert test kits. The instruction sheet says "The values on the color chart are in mg/L total ammonia". So I don't know if thats the same as "ppm" or not but anyway my ammonia has been at 1.5 for the past week (I tested again today). My nitrite doubled since I last tested last Saturday from .1 to .2.
Does it sound like my ammo has spiked and is on the way down?
Can I expect my nitrite spike to last ~20 days also?

 

[xahx]

the more cycled LR u add the faster it will go, u should also add some biological filtration suplplpement, like stress zyme