Nitrite Won't Go Down! (Fishless)

[Manic Fury]

I'm at the phase of the Fishless Cycle that Nitrite and Nitrate are through the roof. That was yesterday.

Yesterday's Water Parameters

pH-8.2
Ammonia-1 ppm
Nitrite-5 ppm+
Nitrate-160 ppm+

Today's Water Parameters

pH-8.2
Ammonia-1 ppm
Nitrite-5 ppm+
Nitrate-160 ppm+

Water Change #1

pH-8.2
Ammonia-1 ppm
Nitrite-5 ppm *
Nitrate-20 ppm

*I noticed Nitrite was still off the charts so I did another water change:

Water Change #2

pH-8.2
Ammonia-.50 ppm
Nitrite-5 ppm **
Nitrate-10 ppm

** Nitrite is STILL through the roof. Nitrate has been going down with each water change, but Nitrite hasn't.

I don't understand why this is happening. I've probably changed about 150-175% of the water so far. I would do another water change but I'm afraid that I will remove all of the Nitrate.

What do you guys think I should do?

 

[Masha]

This is completely normal. Sometimes you have to do several large water changes to get the nitrites into a readable range. It's good to do that as too high nitrites can slow the development of the beneficial bacteria.

Why are you worried about lowering nitrates? Unless I'm missing something, no reason to worry about that

 

[Manic Fury]

This is completely normal. Sometimes you have to do several large water changes to get the nitrites into a readable range. It's good to do that as too high nitrites can slow the development of the beneficial bacteria.

Why are you worried about lowering nitrates? Unless I'm missing something, no reason to worry about that

Just a little too careful I suppose! Thanks for clearing that up. It's good to hear that it's not abnormal for it to take several large water changes for Nitrite to go down.

 

[Masha]

This nitrite spike stage means the cycle is nearly complete, but be prepared for it to last a while. It can be the longest stage of a cycle.

Consider dosing up to a lower ammonia level eg 2ppm
This will still give you a good bacteria colony, and keep the nitrite spikes from being quite so high.