To many nitrites?

nerdyguy83

nerdyguy83

AC Members
May 11, 2006
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Erie, PA, US
I am cycling a 40 gallon. I used mature sponges and gravel to seed the tank, and it worked its way through ammonia quickly, becoming efficient at eliminating it in only a few days. It has stalled out and is barely processessing nitrites at all. The nitrite levels are off the scale, and 2ppm ammonia dissapears in about 12 hours. Do I need to do a water change because there is too much nitrite to allow the bacteria to grow?
 
Are you doing a fishless cycle? If yes, then maybe wait a few more days and give them a chance to colonate the tank. Since the bacteria all use difference sources for food, the only thing they could compete for would be a place to form colonies but i don't think the ammonia-utilizing bacteria could have taken all of the surface area available. If you have fish in the tank i would start doing water changes right away to avoid any harm to the fishes. As long as there are some nitrites in there, the bacteria should eventually take hold.

Keith
 
it sounds to me like your nitrite bacteria just need more time to catch up. follow me on this logic and I think it'll make sense ;)

basically, your established media hasn't had to handle the kind of ammonia load you're giving it now, so it's having to grow in a little to pick up the slack. as your ammo bacteria is growing they are giving off more nitrite and thus your nitrite bacteria is having to grow to catch up.

I would give it more time and you should see those nitrites go away before long :)
 
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