Nitrites not falling on cycle

[T4ylor]

I’m about 2 weeks in to my cycle that started by dosing 1ppm ammonium chloride and used Dr tim’s one and only bacteria.
when ammonia dropped to 0.25 each time i redosed ammonia waiting until it got broken down fully in 24 hours.
My nitrite started to rise on day 2 and continued to (my salifert test kit only reads up to 4ppm of nitrites and 100pm of nitrates maximum)
Nitrates were present after a few days but have been told nitrite can create false nitrate readings.
On the 29th my ammonia was down to just below 1, after dosing it back to 1 for the past week whenever it dropped, and i raised it to 2ppm on the morning of the 29th. I then retested that night and got 1ppm. I tested again the next morning and it was 0-0.3 (hard to read accurately)
and by the next morning it was definitely 0. Nitrites have been 4ppm or above all the way through and still are. Nitrates are reading 100+ppm.

What should i do from here? i’d think to just wait it out until nitrite finally drops but if this takes a while could this inhibit my ammonia bacteria?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

You should do a water change and add a fish or 2.

**Edit - I misread and thought you said you had cycled for 29 days.
I would add 1-2 ppm ammo, and test in 24-36 hours. If the ammo is low or 0, then you have sufficient nitrifying bacteria to add a small bioload. If it does not go down that quickly, then wait a week and try again.

 

[Cell]

Nitrites can take awhile to go down. Saltwater fish aren't affected by nitrite so as long as ammonia is being processed, you are safe to stock slowly. You can't get an accurate nitrate measurement in the presence of nitrite with our hobby kits. Wait for nitrite to go down until testing for nitrate.

 

[T4ylor]

Nitrites can take awhile to go down. Saltwater fish aren't affected by nitrite so as long as ammonia is being processed, you are safe to stock slowly. You can't get an accurate nitrate measurement in the presence of nitrite with our hobby kits. Wait for nitrite to go down until testing for nitrate.

should i just simply wait for nitrite to drop to 0 then add fish if it only takes a few days? or should i do a water change to bring sky high nitrites down and then dose again to watch the process?

 

[T4ylor]

You should do a water change and add a fish or 2.

**Edit - I misread and thought you said you had cycled for 29 days.
I would go ahead and do a water change, add 1-2 ppm ammo, and test in 36 hours. If the ammo is low or 0, then you have sufficient nitrifying bacteria to add a small bioload. If it does not go down that quickly, then wait a week and try again.

if i add more ammonia im just going to add more nitrite and i already have way too much

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

if i add more ammonia im just going to add more nitrite and i already have way too much

Cycling an Aquarium

Cycling a new aquarium. One of the earliest topics a new aquarium hobbyist needs to learn is how to properly cycle their aquarium. There is a ton of information on this process and many different methods on how to accomplish it. There are many different chemical and biological cycles our tank...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[T4ylor]

Cycling an Aquarium

Cycling a new aquarium. One of the earliest topics a new aquarium hobbyist needs to learn is how to properly cycle their aquarium. There is a ton of information on this process and many different methods on how to accomplish it. There are many different chemical and biological cycles our tank...

www.reef2reef.com

thanks

 

[Uncle99]

Rock sand saltwater flow Dr.Tims, a ammonia hit, 2 days, cycle completed
Those tests are mostly inaccurate.
Add a fish or two.

 

[Cell]

should i just simply wait for nitrite to drop to 0 then add fish if it only takes a few days? or should i do a water change to bring sky high nitrites down and then dose again to watch the process?

Nitrites don't matter to us. They aren't harmful to marine fish. As long as ammonia is being processed you can stock slowly. The bac that breaks down nitrite will catch up eventually. It will take more than a few days.

 

[T4ylor]

Nitrites don't matter to us. They aren't harmful to marine fish. As long as ammonia is being processed you can stock slowly. The bac that breaks down nitrite will catch up eventually. It will take more than a few days.

should i do a water change to bring nitrite down quicker

 

[apista]

I would do an almost 100% water change and call it cycled, high nitrates are affecting your nitrite reading.

 

[T4ylor]

I would do an almost 100% water change and call it cycled, high nitrates are affecting your nitrite reading.

won’t this get rid of some of my bacteria

 

[Cell]

should i do a water change to bring nitrite down quicker

After explaining we don't care about nitrite, why would you think a water change is needed to bring them down? If it makes you feel better, do it. It's not needed though.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree that there's no cause for a water change, but if it makes you happy to do one, it won't hurt anything.

The nitrate value is not real. It is caused by interference by the nitrite. You may have 4 ppm nitrite and zero ppm nitrate.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

won’t this get rid of some of my bacteria

No. The nitrifying bacteria lives primarily on surfaces -- rock, biomedia, etc. (I'm assuming you have this in the tank already...?)

 

[Freenow54]

No. The nitrifying bacteria lives primarily on surfaces -- rock, biomedia, etc. (I'm assuming you have this in the tank already...?)

They will. Mine had very weird readings but finally settled down. It took me 3 months

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

They will. Mine had very weird readings but finally settled down. It took me 3 months

Not sure what you are saying, but I agree with the assertion that a water change won’t have much impact on aquarium cycling through loss of bacteria.

 

[T4ylor]

Not sure what you are saying, but I agree with the assertion that a water change won’t have much impact on aquarium cycling through loss of bacteria.

should i just be waiting

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you have added ammonia twice and it dropped significantly both times, I see no need to be waiting for slow starting of adding organisms.

What is the first organism you wanted to add?

 

[brandon429]

To directly ask that question after reading your response cell makes no sense. There’s a button for that thankfully