Why are my nitrites and nitrates rising, but my ammonia remains the same?

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littleskunkfeet

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 27, 2019
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Hi everybody. This is my first time ever setting up an aquarium and so I have a few questions. I started fishless cycling roughly three weeks ago and added Dr. Tims ammonia, and dosed it all the way up to 4 ppm. A week and a half ago, it dropped to about 2 ppm. Nitrites were ~.20 ppm and nitrates were at 0.

Today, I tested my water. Ammonia is still at 2 ppm, but my nitrites are about .75 ppm while my nitrates have risen to about 5.0 ppm. Is this normal? I'm glad I'm seeing some change in water parameters but a bit worried. Will I see a decrease in ammonia in the following days to come? An acquaintance told me to dose back up to 4 ppm but I want to see if it will continue to drop. Should I dose back up or let the cycle run its course?

Any other advice will be greatly appreciated. So far, all I have in the tank is driftwood and sand.
 
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