Cycle stalled??

[Phantomflier]

I have been cycling my 29 gal for about 3 wks now. I have followed the guide that Eco wrote. At first everything went smoothly, my ammo was steadily being converted. I began to see nitrites, and then nitrAtes a few days later. But for the past 8-9 days I have had no reduction in the nitrites. Every morning, the tests show Ammo-0, Nitrites- 2-5 (that shade of purple is difficult to decipher) and Nitrates 5-10. I am waiting for anything to happen, either nitrites to lower, or nitrates to skyrocket, but neither has happened. Ph is holding steady at 7.3, and water temp is 86. No live plants. The daily ammo (4ppm) is GONE within 24 hours. Am I still on the right track? Thanks

 

[jlk]

Does the nitrite test liquid turn purple as soon as it hits the water in the tube? As your nitrates have not been increasing but your ammonia is steadily converting, I expect your nitrite levels at this point are incredibly high. Very high nitrites will effectively stall a cycle and right now things appear stalled.

My suggestion is a big wc (90+%) to try and drop your nitrites down to a readable level (@1ppm). It may take more than 1 water change to do this. Then just add 1ppm of ammonia and wait. Once your tank starts converting the nitrite, you can work on gradually increasing the ammonia dose by .5ppm over a week or so until your back to 4ppm and its being fully converted. Nitrite>nitrate bacteria take on average 2-3x as long to grow as your amm>nitrite bacteria so have some patience!

 

[Phantomflier]

Thanks jlk! Sage advice, for that is exactly what I have done, and voila' this morning I woke up to ammo- 0 and nitrites-0!!!! Ates are almost off the chart, but I'll bring them down tomorrow with a pwc. It was just great to see some major change today- you're exactly right about phase 2 taking 3 times as long as ammo-nitrite. Thank you for replying- my future fish thank you too.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Same thing happened to me while I was cycling. Did a couple big water changes, cycle was done in a few days. Almost there!

 

[jlk]

Thanks jlk! Sage advice, for that is exactly what I have done, and voila' this morning I woke up to ammo- 0 and nitrites-0!!!! Ates are almost off the chart, but I'll bring them down tomorrow with a pwc. It was just great to see some major change today- you're exactly right about phase 2 taking 3 times as long as ammo-nitrite. Thank you for replying- my future fish thank you too.

See that? You didn't even need help!

Just make sure your tank is steadily zeroing ammonia and nitrite before prepping for fish. Newly cycled tanks can be a bit tempermental. Good luck with your new tank and fish!