My 55 Gallon Tank is taking too long to cycle

[SMOOOZZZ]

I'm doing a fishless cycle on our new 55 gallon tank with new Cascade filter, heater, power pump and gravel. It's going now 2 months. We have it upstairs in our bed room by our window. It took too long to get the ammonia levels to rise at first. We used the ammonia from ACE hardware. Then 3 weeks later we finally saw the nitrates rise, the problem now the Nitrates & nitrites are are not dropping. A year ago we cycled our first 55 gallon tank within 6 weeks and with same exact filter and was easy to do, I don't know what's going on with this 55 gallon tank we purchased the same stuff and was suppose to be a no brainer...any advise???

 

[Phranque]

What ppm are you keeping your ammonia at? Are you testing & continually dosing your ammo to maintain consistent level? And, be careful of overdosing.... one good overdose of ammonia can pretty much nuke your bacteria and cause it to start over. This is why I prefer the dead shrimp method... drop a couple in for a 55 & let them rot. No worrying about maintenance doses of liquid ammo.

Remember, every tank is different.... While is seems exceptionally long, I've had tanks take 3 months to completely cycle.

 

[peterj]

You should have seen nitrite s first. If you have nitrates you should be done. They will only go down with water change.do a large water change. Take all readings again. Dose a small amount of ammonia. Wait a hour take ammonia reading. Wait 24 hours if you get 0 ammonia you should be done. Some times people put too much ammonia and takes longer for tank to process nitrites. If you have nitrates your done. Just do overstock right away.

 

[Gizzepi]

I'm doing a fishless cycle on our new 55 gallon tank with new Cascade filter, heater, power pump and gravel. It's going now 2 months. We have it upstairs in our bed room by our window. It took too long to get the ammonia levels to rise at first. We used the ammonia from ACE hardware. Then 3 weeks later we finally saw the nitrates rise, the problem now the Nitrates & nitrites are are not dropping. A year ago we cycled our first 55 gallon tank within 6 weeks and with same exact filter and was easy to do, I don't know what's going on with this 55 gallon tank we purchased the same stuff and was suppose to be a no brainer...any advise???

You should try useing safe start by tetra i used it for the first time and put my fish right in.works great