Why are my nitrites not falling?

[adiliegro]

Its been two weeks now and my nitrites in my tank are not falling at ALL! They have been at 1.6 mg/l for over two weeks with no sign of falling. There are nitrates in the tank as they register at about 12.5 so i know they are there. This cycle is going on 6 weeks now and I dont see a sign of it getting done.

Any ideas? Im sick of these nitrites!

 

[kmlong]

I would keep up with your water changes if your not already. How big is your tank and what kind of cycling are you doing? The good thing is that your getting nitrate readings and should only be a matter of time till your nitrite drops. If you are adding ammonia on a fishless cycle you may want to cut back a little. If you are doing a cycle with fish then how many do you have? What are the ammonia readings? It would be a good idea to feed sparingly if your not already to help cut back on the ammonia levels which will in turn stop feeding your nitrite and also don't add anymore fish until your cycled. It took me nearly 10 weeks to cycle and i put a biowheel in on week nine cause i got so frustrated and my nitrites never went over .5-1. Hope this helps

 

[adiliegro]

20 gallon tank with three fish. Ammonia is at 0 and has been for over three weeks. I feed once per day.

 

[glasstapper]

maybe purchase another test kit or test pure tap water to rule out a faulty test kit had it happen myself, my kit registered fine but in reality it wasnt fish were sick, borrowed friends kit and low and behold!!

 

[Mr Burns]

buy some bio-spira and be done with it...

 

[kmlong]

If your sure its not the test kit then it must just be the way you are cycling and have to ride it out. The best fix would be to keep up on the water changes. Sorry i can't help anymore than that.