Cycling Help

[TnMark]

Well I though my tank was cycled. On my 13th (lucky?) day I had readings of 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites (PH 6.8). Today was the 5th day with 0 readings. My Nitrites on days 13-15 were 5, went up to 10 on day 16 and yesterday and today are at 5. I thought now was a good time to do a water change so I did about a 75% change (lots of fun on a 135 gallon tank). Now after my change my Nitrites are up to 2 (Ammonia still 0 and Nitrates still 5). I did put in a lot of plants last night before my water change. Are these readings odd or normal. Can I put fish in now or should I wait till the Nitrites are back to 0? FYI my tap water is PH 7.2, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrate, 0 Nitrite.:confused: :confused:

[OrionGirl]

You should wait until the nitrites are at zero. Your tank isn't cycled until the nitrites are at zero, which it doesn't sound like has happened.

The plants will cause a few fluctuations--they will suck up the ammonia before the bacteria can process it. This isn't aproblem, it just means that your nitrites will probably fall dramatically as fewer are produced, so the remaining amount can be processed by bacteria quicker.

HTH

[Rover]

Any tried the new Bio Spira from Marineland? It's supposed to cycle your tank overnight.

[TnMark]

My Nitrites were at 0 for 5 days and went up after my water change. That's what I thought was odd.

[OrionGirl]

I guess I am confused...Your first post says
My Nitrites on days 13-15 were 5, went up to 10 on day 16 and yesterday and today are at 5 .

So they were zero on days 1-13, then began to rise? If so, this is the normal pattern. The nitrites don't show up until after the ammonia spike recedes. The nitrite processing bacteria are beginning to establish themselves, which is why nitrates are showing up.

[TnMark]

Oops sorry. My NITRATES were went up and down. My NITRITES were at 0 for the 5 days and just went up. Sorry for my confusion.

[morleyz]

Sounds pretty normal to me...I'd wait until I had a good 2-3 days with both ammonia and nitrite @ 0. No exceptions.

[TnMark]

Thanks. I'll try to be patient.

[carpguy]

I just finished a fishless cycle, it took 32 days including 2 days at 0/0. I've seen people say they've finished in 3 weeks, but I think thats probably the fastest you could hope for. For me its been 4-5 weeks.

Sounds like everything is working the way its supposed to.