question on cycling

[gratefuldead1]

ok,
so I have a new 55Gallon long that I'm doing a fishless cycle on ... its been running now for almost a month.... I got a big jump in ammonia a few weeks ago which then gave me a huge jump in Nitrite which then the Nitrate jumped... so everything looks like it should be on the right track... only now I have 0- ammonia - 5.0 ppm (or more due to test maxed out) of Nitrite - 90ppm of Nitrate.... so my concern is this.. if the ammonia has dropped to 0 then why are the Nitrites not dropping at all???? when my Nitrates are off the charts.... also question 2 I have seen on youtube that if I just put in the recommended amount of (SEACHEM PRIME) that will drop the Nitrites and then I can do a big water change and good to go....remember there are no fish in this tank so this is not an emergency situation... just wondering if I can speed up the process a bit by doing a few tricks ... also wondering if there is something overall wrong with this cycle or is this completely normal????

Thanks for your help... Newbie at work here

 

[coralbandit]

The bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate take longer to grow and establish then the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite.Also 1ppm ammonia converts to like 5ppm nitrite or some number in the multiples of ammonia...
A water change may help speed things up.As for the prime it will convert the nitrite or ammonia into less toxic forms until the filter can convert it or 2 days...So I am not sure if it would really help the cycle?
Congrats on having patience and doing your best..
You will enjoy the fish hobby I bet.

 

[gratefuldead1]

tank cycle question

so do you think I should do a water change then or just wait???? and if so 25 to 30 percent water change or a big say 50 percent water change??? if its not gonna hurt the cycle to wait I can wait, I have waited this long it really doesn't matter to me... I just want the cycle to be done correctly .....

thanks for your help....

 

[coralbandit]

The % you change will be the % the nutrient[ammonia /nitirite/nitrate] will be reduced.
You're going to have to whack it with like 75% + when you place fish to get nitrates down to 20 or so.75% of 90 is roughly 67.5 removal leaving you with 22.5 nitrates plus whatever you accumulate between now and 'then'.
I would change 50% now...
What are you using for ammonia?
I would not dose ammonia again until nitrites are under 1 so you can see the true effect now.

 

[gratefuldead1]

I'm using just some ace hardware brand Ammonia ... cool... thanks ill do a 50% this week and see where it goes.....
thanks for your help....