cycling for 2 weeks and still no nitrites

[raseii]

Hi,
I have my 55g. tank set up and it has been cycling for 2 weeks now and I still have not seen any nitrites show up. Is it still too soon for that. I am fishy cycling which I will never do again, just too much stress from worrying about the fish and water changes, ect. I wish I could move them out to finish the cycle without fish, but I do not have another established tank. Anyways, I have been checking every day to every other day and keeping the ammonia under .25 but have not seen any nitrites show up and it has been 2 weeks. I would have thought they would show up by now or is it too soon?
Thanks

 

[lothaekor]

I've got a tank that after about 6 weeks of holding the ammonia levels at 5ppm, I still see no nitrites. It takes time, and I would think a fish-in cycle would take a bit longer.

The biggest thing with a fish-in cycle is when your ammonia drops to 0 and you're ready to add new fish, you want to add them a few at a time, since the bacteria that will have developed are only able to handle the .25 ppm of ammonia that is generated by your current fish.

I think the hardest part of cycling is patience Of course, having a roommate who unplugs your aquarium doesn't help matters either. (Working on that...)

If you are looking to get things a bit faster, see if you can get some filter squeezings from a healthy established tank. It will at least give you a good number of seed bacteria.

Hope this helps.

 

[FroggyFox]

Great advice Lothaekor, I agree. The water changes and keeping your ammonia down low prolongs the cycle a LOT. Since the natural way for the cycle to happen is for the ammonia to peak, then the nitrite to peak...so keeping it low means there's no 'peak'. Eventually you'll see some nitrites I'm sure I'd just continue with maintenance like you have been and maybe cut the testing down to once every three days or so...might be easier and not seem like its taking quite as long that way. Keep the faith!

 

[lothaekor]

I'm picking up things fairly quickly from my friends, these forums and the internet in general.

My mother may think I'm crazy for doing it this way, but in the end it'll be a lot of less stress on the fish.

 

[frying nemo]

I think your all crazy....save your fish...get some bio spira..

 

[raseii]

Thanks for your replies, and gosh, I have looked at every fish store around here with nobody having any bio-spira. I took some water tests again today and my ammonia is down ( my test for ammonia you put drops in a vial and then check the colors and I know it is under .25, the color looked closer to the 0 then 0.25) STILL no nitrites, but I was showing 20 for nitrites. I bought another nitrite test thinking it was my test sticks wrong, but the new ones show no nitrites either. So, how can I be getting a reading on nitrate if I havent gotten any nitrites yet? I tested the tap water which shows no traces of nitrate so it didnt come from the tap. Also, I forgot to mention when I set up the tank, I added the filter from my 10 gallon tank that is cycled. Do you think that helped me along? I thought I would still have to go through the complete cycle even if I added the used filter media.
Thanks agian,

 

[FroggyFox]

You still have to go through the cycle...but its possible to really cut down on it. Who knows...the new nitrite kit you bought, is it strips again or the drop bottle kind? Its a little odd to see Nitrates w/ no nitrites, so I'd say there's something wrong with your test kit or maybe they're just really low because of your really low amount of ammonia and your tank is gradually cycling so some nitrates are showing up. I'm actually surprised that there's still a measureable ammount of ammonia in the tank after a couple of weeks.

 

[dss2004]

Could be that you are using test strips. They are notorious for being inaccurate. I would invest some money in the liquid testers. They are a much more reliable than the strips IMO. You could in fact be getting nitrites and your test is showing up negative. You could probably take it to a fish store and have them test it for you.

Also bio-spira is most likely going to be found in fish only stores. Places like petsmart and such IME probably won't carry it. You could also order it online. I know there was a site floating around here a couple of weeks ago that gave a place where you could get bio-spira fairly cheap online. If you do a search you should be able to find. With bio-spira you would be (really need too) able to fully stock your tank.

 

[lothaekor]

Or, on another note, test your water for nitrates as well. On a whim, I tested for nitrates in my tank, and was "Woo, I've got nitrates", then I tested the tap water and found the exact same amount (about 5 ppm) in the water.

 

[raseii]

I HAVE been using that "Cycle" product. Do you think that may be slowing things down? I am also going to take my water in today and have it tested and we'll see what they find.
Thanks

 

[FroggyFox]

No...cycle (the product) shouldn't slow anything down. It might not SPEED anything up and it might be a waste of money...but chemically it shouldn't hurt anything.