Cycling end?

[Determinated]

So as some of you know i had a goldfish from a project and came home totally unprepared and tried my hardest to fight for this fishy but he ended up passing :/

So i said im going to do a fish less cycle, i cleaned the tank and added water with ammonia, the ammonia level has gone down, the nitrites have risen and the nitrates have risen, but i feel we are stuck, im using the paper test strips and it seems that the readings have been the same for like a week now...the tank has been cycling for a way more than a month or so now and i feel that it should be done already! Anything i can do to speed this last and final process??

Also it seems there is some yellow looking, slimy feeling stuff growing on the tubes for the bubbler and filter, what is this? is it good? do i need to clean it off before i add a fish?

Now when my tank is finished i have to decide what type of fish to get, its a 10 gallon tank and i would like to be able to have at least 2 fish inside, i can get a heater if needed, i want a hearty fish thats hard to kill! lol

Thanks everyone in advance!

 

[Kvnr14]

I would recommend getting a API test kit instead of strips due to the simple fact that strips are inaccurate. It's hard to say if the cycle is complete without accurate water parameters.

 

[Determinated]

where can you get these test kits?

 

[Kvnr14]

Any Local Fish Store (petsmart) but I recommend amazon, much cheaper and usually free shipping.

 

[Kvnr14]

API Freshwater Master Test Kit http://amzn.com/B000255NCI

 

[librarygirl]

I agree, the strips aren't really accurate. But what are the readings for nitrite and nitrate? Ammonia is still dropping after 24 hours, right? Is it going down to 0? Two things could be happening: either the PH crashed which is normal when cycling and it can slow the process. Also high nitrites during the cycle are normal and the nitrite phase is the longest, taking about 3 weeks on average but prolonged high nitrite can stall things too. You can try a full water change (with dechlorinator) to try to get nitrites down and then redose ammonia. When you get the test kit we can go from there with more accurate readings.