Fishless cycle high nitrates and nitrites

[Lightnin]

Hello all -


I've been fishless cycling for about 3 weeks with Ammonia. When Ammonia levels dropped after the first week, both nitrates and nitrites immediately went to the top of the scale. I've done two 1/3 water changes but they don't seem to budge. The tank is planted and a good deal of algae is growing - I've set the light to be on only about 5 hours per day.



I've graphed all my readings in a gDoc here:


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...7MgaTRH_RArm3bMIwRzGLEUEUE/edit#gid=381145571


Any advice on why the Nitrates got so high so quick, and what I might do? Is my cycle still going ok?


Many thanks for the help!

 

[JackBinimbul]

I'm having a similar issue. My nitrites are always off the charts, even after a 75% water change. I also steadily have nitrates and after about 24 hours, they get about 40 as well, but the nitrites never go down.

One thing I can say is that the nitrates notoriously have improper readings. Make sure you are shaking the ever-loving hell out of the #2 bottle before adding the drops.

I see that you have a nitrite drop starting, though, and that's a good sign. It seems like you're on track and the nitrate bacteria are starting to catch up.