Water Change Yet?

[semperfi]

I began cycling a 29g on Friday, January 23.
Planted (moderately) on Saturday, January 24: 2 Java Ferns; 1 Red Flame Sword; 1 Crypto Walkeri; 2 anubias golden; 1 small bunch of sagittaria subulata; 5 medium bunches of dwarf hair grass.
Have been dosing Seachem Flourish Excel; Seachem Stability; and using Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride Solution to dose ammonia. I am also trying different combos of DIY CO2.
As of last night's testing: Ammonia is dropping 3ppm every 12 hours (I have been dosing from 1ppm to 4 ppm morning and night for the last two days; Nitrites are DEEP purple within seconds of adding 5th drop (I am guessing that means off the chart); Nitrates have increased from 5 ppm to around 30 ppm over the last two tests.
Am I on the right track? Should I go ahead an do a water change, and if so, how much? Should I continue dosing back up to 4ppm ammonia when it falls to 1 ppm?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Fresh2o]

I would do at least a 50% WC to bring those nitrites down. They are probably very high. You could test half tank water plus half DI water and multiply by two to get a more accurate nitrite reading.
I've done fishless cycling where I dosed to 4 ppm but I think it would be fine dosing to 2 or maybe 3 ppm.
I would wait until the ammonia drops to zero before adding more.


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[semperfi]

Thanks for the information. I was leaning toward doing a 50% water change tonight.

 

[Fresh2o]

The ammonia drop is occurring quickly (not sure how much of this is due to the plants). The conversion of nitrite to nitrate is what takes time (weeks).
If you can obtain seeded media from another filter then that will cut the total cycling time down considerably.
I saw you are using Dr Tim's for an ammonia source. I've heard positive reviews about Dr Tim's cycling product (One and Only). I have not used it but I used another product years ago: Biospira. From what I understand, Dr Tim's One and Only was derived from it.


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[semperfi]

I am brand new to this so I don't really have anything to compare it to. However, I can say that it is very consistent on how many drops to raise my tank's ammonia. I read both positive and negative reviews, but I haven't had any issues so far.