Fish-in cycling 3 weeks

[kimball2014]

It has been almost 3 weeks since I started cycling and I just checked the water and below is the results:

ammonia: between 0.25 -0.5ppm
nitrite: 0.25ppm
nitrate: 5ppm

When should I do water change? I have a 5G tank and did 15% water change this morning. Should I wait till tomorrow morning and check the water again and decide? When both ammonia and nitrite reach 0, do I do 90% water change? Do I clean the gravel when I do that or just change the water itself? I am sure there are lots of food waste on the bottom right now. And, when should I change the filter? I have a tetra whisper 10 filter. please let me know if you need more information.

 

[ericwithac]

I would do it now. My opinion would be to change water any time ammonia is over .5ppm thats just me...


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[kimball2014]

When I tested water this morning(7am), I read light blue for nitrite but when I tested water just now (8pm), the nitrites spiked up so much and it's dark purple now. I then did 20% PWC. Haven't tested water after water change yet. Should I keep doing water changes to lower the nitrite to 0.25 to 0.5 range? MY tank is small (5G) so I don't want to do 50% or more water change at a time because that might stress the fish. So I am doing 10-20% and maybe 12 hours later I do another 10-20%.

 

[ScotJudd]

I would go in stronger than Eric - 0.25 ammonia should be your max.
The size of your tank is not relevant to the percentage water change, it's just much easier with a small tank. Your fish will be less stressed by a good water change than having excessive ammonia and nitrite.
Condition the new water and match the temp to the tank and the fish will benefit.
Fish in cycling can take much longer than fish less because you need to keep the water cleaner and therefore the bacteria colony's establish more slowly.
50% a week is not unusual even in a cycled tank. My fish seem to love fresh water.


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[kimball2014]

Updates:

The ammonia level has been steady at 0.25ppm for a couple days now but the nitrite stays high (dark purple, I can't really tell if it's 2ppm or over 5ppm) I am doing a daily 20%PWC. If I test the water after water change, the nitrite goes down to 0.25ppm but a couple hours later, it goes back up to dark blue. I use Seachem Prime whenever I do water change so I hope the fishes are ok.

One thing I noticed, my water has been cloudy all these times but since 4/2, the water is crystal clear. Is my tank cycling ok??

 

[kimball2014]

5 Weeks Updates:

Ammonia: less than 0.25 ppm (steady)
Nitrites: over 5ppm (before PWC) 0.25 -0.5ppm (after 20% PWC)
Nitrates: ~5ppm

I keep doing 20% PWC daily (or sometimes once every 2 days). The nitrite spikes up so fast after PWC..

Patience..patience..