Cycling Help!

[ben12500]

So I started a fishless cycle on a 20-gallon tank a week ago Monday, and I have gotten to the point where the ammonia will go from 2ppm to 0ppm in a matter of 24 hours, however, the nitrites refuse to get lower than 2ppm and the nitrAtes stay at 30ppm. I am afraid that the nitrAtes were stalled so I did a 50% water change and neither the nitrites nor nitrAtes changed at all! Every night I add enough ammonia to keep the tank above 1ppm, and the tank is usually a steady 7.2-7.6 ph and 76 degrees F. I do have a bio stone and added some bio booster. What if anything should I do?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Fishless cycle typically takes 4 to 6 weeks. The ammonia stage completes much quicker than the nitrite to nitrate stage. You have only just started.

 

[ben12500]

So should I keep adding ammonia?

Thanks for the help! Should I keep adding ammonia? My other question is how do I have a high amount of nitrAtes without reduced nitrites?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Every time your ammonia drops below 1ppm top it up to 2ppm. If you are planning on slowly stocking then topping up to 1ppm is fine.

Your nitrite only "appears" to be not dropping because you keep adding ammonia. That ammonia is converting to nitrite, some of which is converting to nitrate. You just happen to be at a stage where the amount of nitrite being produced is matched by the amount of nitrite being consumed so it appears to be static. If you stop dosing ammonia your nitrite should drop. When your cycle progresses a bit more the nitrite to nitrate stage will overtake the ammonia to nitrite and nitrite will start to drop.

Also, test kits arent that accurate. Your parameters might be changing, but the test cant really differentiate that well. You arent exactly testing under lab conditions. All they can really do is show the difference between 0, low, moderate and high levels. The difference between 30ppm nitrate and 50ppm is hardly noticable.

 

[ben12500]

Thank you so much! That makes me feel a lot better.