Nitrites increased, ammonia decreasing, starting to see nitrates, how long now to go?

[greenday04]

Ammonia is now .50, nitries 2.0 and nitrAtes at 5.0. How long does it take for the nitrAtes to take over the nitrites? The nitrites showed up overnight two days ago w/high ammonia, now today the ammonia has decrease from 1.5 no to .50 Just got the nitrAte tester today and have no idea when they showed up.

Can I leave the nitrite level this high til nitrAtes reach a certain level (what level would that be also)? I know the ultimate is to have 0 ammonia and nitrites and some nitrAtes. When the others are 0 how high can the nitrAtes go to be safe. Have a 2 1/2g

Thanks, I am so excited that things are finally happening, everyone told me it was practically impossible to cycle a tank that size.

[Mako]

Lol, whoever told you that you can't cycle a 2.5 obviously never tried. You could cycle a shot glass if you wanted to.

The big question is, what are you filtering with? If you keep the stock level low (like, just a couple of small fish and a couple of ghost shrimp for scavenging) and have a decent filter (a tiny nano filter or simply a sponge bubble filter) you should have a completed cycle within a week or two. It always varies.

Be certain that the nitrite cycle is the longest part of the marathon, usually. It may build as high as 40 ppm, which is like swimming in fertilizer (why I don't push the "cheap fish" cycle). If it goes off the charts of your test kit, don't be suprized or alarmed unless you have more than two tiny fish in this tank.
Be patient (as you have been) and it'll happen for sure. PS, don't do any water changes if you can get away with it. It will slow the cycle down by removing food (nitrites) and some bacteria "floaters".

[Kasakato]

O cool, maybe I will try to cycle a small tank! (less than 1g)

[greenday04]

Several people on various chats have told me that. Anyway I have an underground filter that came w/the Aquatic Gardens hexegon tank I bought at Petco.

I have one betta and 2 dwarf cories in there. They all look great! I have had the tank for almost 2 months now and have been doing 50% water changes everyday so nothing had a chance to even get started to cycle. I have relaxed w/it the past week and this are moving right along.

Don't want to keep the nitrites high for to long it simply scares me. I wont do any water changes unless the nitrite gets to what level? 40 ok?

Thanks MAko for the info it has really made me relax. Don't want to do anything to jeopordize the cycle I have waited so long for.

PS Got my free 20g from my bro in law, set it up, no leaks and the filter works like a charm. My LFS I just found carries Bio Spira yea!!!

[anonapersona]

Don't bother with BioSpira now, you've gone too far to invest in that.

The fallling nitrite takes about twice as long as the falling ammonia. So, if it has been 8 days, and ammonia is at 0 on the 10th day, then the nitrite part may last twice that long, or 20 days, but it overlaps the ammonia part some. The level the nitrites will get to may be about twice the level the ammonia got to, unless you are changing water, so forget about that. When the nitrite drops, it usually falls rapidly, over just a few days, to zero.

If the equipment was used, then there may have been some bacteria in place already, even if dry it seems to help a bit. At least, I had a dry biowheel that rapidly cycled a tank during a test once.

[greenday04]

Thanks Anonapersona, I am not going to use Bio Spira in this tank. I am going to try it in my 20G I will be setting up in the next week or two. The 20g filter is dry and I know what to do w/that.


This 2 1/2g tank isn't dry. I have had it for almost 2 months per my original post. I am watching everything in the small tank. The ammonia came down since yesterday w/the nitrites climbing in the past 2 to 3 days.

Thanks for you input. I welcome all I can get!!

[amosf]

I had a 10litre tank cycled with a corner box filter okay... Tho I have put a 100l/h above tank wet/dry on it now and it has a bunch of guppy fry... Re-Cylcled it and it's fine again...