Added Bio Spira but now a cycle... what to do? HELP (long)

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Ok, I did a water change last night around midnight and today my levels are still extremely high with no change for the better.

NH3 = 0.5
NO2 = 5.0
NO3 = 10

I am about to do yet ANOTHER water change, but this time i was wondering would it be more harm than good to do a massive (70-80%) change today rather than doing the 40%-50% change i have been doing everytime i have done one.

I am about to run up to the LFS to pick up some prime now. If need be i can go get MORE bio spira, but i was told by my friend at the LFS to not dose it anymore. I am getting somewhat frusterated now because most all of my fish are all starting to flash (or scrub the gravel). Please help.
 
Go ahead and get Prime and do the water change. Any amount of water changes won't hurt the cycle. You can go ahead and do an 80% water change no problem. But make sure if you do a gravel vac, do a light one and don't stir up the gravel too much until you've cycled. Just vacuum up anything that's just sitting on top of the gravel that's in excess. You want the colonies of bacteria to build up. Wait another day or 2 before trying more Bio Spira, I'm sure you may not need it. It just needs to get kicked in. And Prime will help the fish by detoxifying the nitrite and nitrate.
 
I went ahead and did a 70% water change earlier after i posted that. I tested the levels about an hour ago and the nitrites were at around 2.0, so i got some prime and am currently doing a water change. I will post numbers again in a few hrs when i retest the water.

lonebluewolf, thank you so much for your advice thus far. I have no doubts that if it werent for the advice i have been getting my fish would be floating.
 
Not a problem... And don't just thank me, others have helped as well, and I have learned so much from all the others in here. I think most of the credit should go to the forum as a whole. One person can give advice, but the whole forum will give the right advice. One persons weakness is another persons strength. And when we all come together, we are strong. :)
 
I would keep changing at least 50% a day. Those nitrites are running wild. Keep up the good work, you are dedicated to your fishes health.
 
Today theres a little light at the end of the tunnel.

NH3 = 0.25
NO2 = 0.5
NO3 = 10

About to do another 50% change. These numbers sound great in comparison to the numbers this past week. Im guessing that prime helped get these numbers down too.

Yeah i really care about these fish - its funny, i set up a 55g for my mom and gave her the tank and catfish a year ago and they recently started to outgrow it - sad part is that when they get too big for this tank im going to have to set them up a +180. (my lfs sold me these 2 "marble catfish" (labeled simply marmortus) and they are a year old - come to find out after research this week that what they REALLY are - a red tail / tiger shovelnose hybrid and they are prob going to get huge!!!). I know these guys will be a pain but they are so awesome...

Ive had more "trouble" setting this tank up than any other tank ive ever done (and i have a 125 reef right now with over 10k in it - thought sw was supposed to be hard :) )... just goes to show that if you have the don't have the right advice anything can be hard!!

anyway im excited now that the numbers are improving. ill keep you guys posted. thanks again!!
 
Alright. Numbers are still looking good.

NH3 = 0.25
NO2 = 0.25
NO3 = 10

Can't complain at all :mrgreen:
 
Keep up the water changes, keeping them below 1 if possible. If not completed in a couple days, could try Bio Spora as we did with another member in another thread, and was cycled the next day. But we had them do the PWC's first like with you. Keep up the good work.
 
**Update**

Every morning i test my levels and generally they are the same every day, so i have been changing 50% of the water every day.

NH3 = 0.25
NO2 = between 0.5/1.0
NO3 = between 10/20

At what point should i use the bio spira again?
 
If you want, give it another shot now, since you have the numbers under control. Give it one more shot of Bio Spira. If all's good like one of the other members in this forum, should be cycled the next morning after adding. :)
 
ok, last night i did a 50% water change. Added bio spira (put it in cooler on ride home, went straight in fridge til used, followed directions for use) and prime after the water change at around 9pm. When i added the bio spira (3 oz), i made sure spread it over the entire tank (rather than just pour it in one spot) and I even poured a little bit over the bio wheels on the emperor.

Today as of 4pm, my levels are as follows:
NH3 = 0.25
NO2 = 0.25
NO3 = 10
Ph = 6.0

What gives? as you might notice, the levels did not really improve. Is this tank through cycling or not? What should i do? also, my ph is comparably low than it was a wk ago (i havn't really been testing it since the beginning - been focused on the other levels). Should i do more water changes or just let it sit for a few days? When i do a water change, should i gravel vac yet (the tank has been running for roughly a month now with no gravel vac or change of filters - i just don't want to disturb the bacteria).

One last thing; I put in some powerheads a few wks ago (see earlier posts) and added an air pump to get more oxygen in the tank to combat the nitrite effects on the fish. With the present levels, would it be ok to take them out now? Them being in there is not a "problem", its just creating alot of extra flow and bubbles (2 maxijet 1200s) and i really don't care for the look of them.

I must note that all of my fish look healthy and i havn't had any fish loss. I might be being overly cautious with this tank, i just want it done RIGHT.

Thank you all for your support so far. :)
 
Looks like you might just about be there. That ph drop? If you read my fishless cycle, it did that just prior to cycle completion, as my nitrites dropped. A PWC will bring the ph back in line. do a PWC to get ph in line and test your parameters tomorrow. Lets cross our fingers. :)
 
In my fishless cycle, when my ph dropped, I did a 50% PWC to get it back inline. The next day, it was <6.0 again, did another PWC. The very next day I was cycled, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and a bunch of nitrates.
 
I did a 50% water change yesterday around noon. Right now my levels are:

NH3 = 0.50
NO2 = 0.25
NO3 = 10
PH = 6.0

any suggestions?
 
I didn't do a water change yet, just checked levels and apparantly my PH fixed itself overnight... my levels are

NH3 - 2.0
NO2 - 0.25
NO3 - 20
PH - 7.6

going to do a water change. keep you guys posted
 
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