Nitrite spike

[Savycupcake]

Do I need to change my water to lower my nitrites?

Today I’m at .25ppm ammonia (yesterday I was at 1ppm)
But my nitrites have spiked to like 7ppm (yesterday we’re around 5ppm)

Nitrates yesterday were 30 today are 40ppm

I’m on day 18 of the cycle

 

[Aiken Drum]

Do you have fish in the tank (fish in cycle) or not (fishless cycle)?

 

[Savycupcake]

Sorry! It’s fishless

 

[Aiken Drum]

Then its fine. Just leave it.

 

[Andy Sager]

Sorry! It’s fishless

With no livestock in there, doing nothing will help create a stronger bacteria bed which is the whole idea of cycling a tank. I'd do nothing but test your water every other day until you see a 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and then do a water change to address the nitrate level if it is above 40 ppm. Changing 95%- 100% of the water at the end of a cycle will not effect your bacteria bed as long as you add an ammonia source soon after the water change. The bacteria bed is a living organism that grows and shrinks based on the amount of ammonia present in the tank so you don't want to keep the tank ammonia free for long.

 

[Aiken Drum]

And to add. Dont bother testing for nitrate until your cycle is completed. The nitrate test detects nitrite and nitrate. While there is nitrite in the water your nitrate test will be giving a false high reading.

 

[Savycupcake]

Ok thank you guys, I will leave it alone still