10 gallon fishless cycling

[Swordtail12]

I'm in my 5th day of fishless cycling.

Day 1

I add 4 ppm ammonia

Day 2
Water parameters
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm

Day 3

Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate between 20 and 40 ppm
I add ammonia to make it 4 ppm

Day 4

Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate remains same
I add ammonia to make it 4 ppm

Day5

Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Still I don't see any nitrite

How long will it take for the nitrite spike. Do I need to add ammonia everyday?
What should I do next?

I add tetra SafeStart when I started .

 

[molliwopp]

What i dont understand is that if your ammonia is dropping your nitrite should be rising.

Anything else we should know, did you add any established media?

Alot of those bacteria in bottles, safe start and things like that just neutralise the ammonia and dont actually form any bb.

Once your nitrites rise you still need to dose ammonia to keep the bacteria you've built alive but no need to dose the full 4ppm, 1ppm will be enough. I wouldnt of thought 5days was long nearly enough time to form the ammo bacteria needed.

 

[tweakz20]

Alot of those bacteria in bottles, safe start and things like that just neutralise the ammonia and dont actually form any bb

Do you have any sources for this?

 

[Fresh2o]

I cannot comment on the BB in a bottle (other than I've heard mixed reviews on different products).

Regarding the nitrite levels, it sometimes spikes and drops in a short period of time. If you are testing once per day you might miss it. I saw the same thing in my last fishless cycle so I tested 3-4 times per day in order to catch it. I used seeded media and clear ammonia and it took 4-5 days for the nitrite to start getting processed.