1/2 way through fishless cycle - help!

[talieandsasha]

I guess you could say I'm 1/2 way through my fishless cycle, but I'm starting to get discouraged, lol

I test my water early morning and in the evening, nitrites have been through the roof for 4 days, ammonia keeps dropping every time I test it (so I redose it) and nitrate was slowly rising. I did a 50% pwc on Thursday but found that nitrites were still too high to read.

Yesterday I added a few more live plants (java fern & java moss) and I added about 1/2 large almond leaf to get the PH lower for my eventual tetras. My PH has been at 8 since I started my tank 2 weeks ago, after I added my leaves my PH dropped to 7.4-7.6 and has been stable there since yesterday.

This morning my ammonia had dropped to .5 since last night when I dosed it.. nitrite was still too high to read but nitrate was a bit lower!? is that normal?

I was worried I stalled cycle so I did another 50% pwc, added prime and redosed ammonia back to 4ppm. But even after a 50% pwc my nitrite is still too high to read, why? and nitrate was at 30 ppm..

Can anyone give me any advice? Is what I'm experiencing normal?

Thanks!!

 

[threnjen]

Now that you have nitrites, dose the ammonia at 1/2 dose every 3-4 days (so 2ppm of ammonia every 3-4 days). You're prolonging the cycle a ton by dosing it up to 4ppm twice a day.
Don't test so often, it will make you crazy.

Your nitrites are crazy off the charts right now with all that ammonia dosing. I would suggest something of a reset. Do partial changes until you have a readable nitrite number, dose 2ppm ammonia, and DON'T dose again for 3-4 days.

 

[cfosgate]

+1 with threnjen. Also, the nitrite eating bacteria take almost twice as long to multiply as the ammonia eating bacteria so your numbers make sense. It sounds like you're on the downhill side of the cycle too. Don't give up, just keep swimming.