ok whats up with my cycle

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pstrew

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jul 29, 2012
Messages
54
nitrites-at least 2.0
nitrates-5.0
ammonia-.25

been cyclinf for almost 3 weeks now with established filter media and been doing water changes everyday started with 5 feeders in tank as well...iv been told that with the used filter media it should only take a week ish to cycle....so....whats the deal here cant get nitrites down at all
 
What size tank? Established media can help but if the media doesn't contain enough bacteria to sustain the current fish load it won't instantly cycle it. Looks like you're at the nitrite phase, which is pretty common for 3 weeks in. They're as toxic to fish as ammonia so with nitrites at 2 I'd do a few 50% water changes to get them down. Have you tested your tap water for nitrite, nitrite, and ammonia? It's a good idea to do so to ensure that your tap doesn't contain any of those (if it does you're just putting it back in). The levels should lower with water changes and if your tap doesn't contain nitrite; how large water changes are you doing? As I suggested above try a few larger water changes.
 
its a 20g tank...iv ben doing 1-2 50% water changes evrydayfor close to a week but cant seem to get them down
 
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