How To Not Kill Nitrite-Eating Bacteria?

[Part Of Your World]

Hi there,
I've been trying to get my 20-gallon aquarium cycled since the 9th of October. Since Oct 19th, I have had plenty of ammonia-eating bacteria after I added Tetra Safe Start Plus and a new larger filter with new and old media in it. My aquarium's Ammonia stays at 0ppm. But Nitrite spikes daily regardless of how many waters changes I do; I always vacuum the gravel.
I've been water changing literally every single night since I put in the good bacteria on the 19th. I change between 25 - 50 percent of the water. I never let it be over .025 or at the worst .050. Over the weekend, I even did a 50% water change along with a deep clean of the gravel, moving very slowly and sucking up as much waste and particles as I could, and removed all the fake plants and decor, gave them a good scrub and rinsed them in prime with water. I also squeezed the media gunk out in a bucket of tank water and placed it back into the filter.
I've recently read that the Nitrite bacteria take weeks to many months to develop when I am doing a fish in a cycle, which I am. I have 4 skirt tetra and 8 neon tetras. I also read that the Nitrite-eating bacteria live on the substrate surface and on the inside of the aquarium glass, on decor, and in my filter on the media. If this is true, then how do I not remove what little my aquarium has, or if anything, how do I encourage growth?

 

[isaacwalker]

Hi there,
I've been trying to get my 20-gallon aquarium cycled since the 9th of October. Since Oct 19th, I have had plenty of ammonia-eating bacteria after I added Tetra Safe Start Plus and a new larger filter with new and old media in it. My aquarium's Ammonia stays at 0ppm. But Nitrite spikes daily regardless of how many waters changes I do; I always vacuum the gravel.
I've been water changing literally every single night since I put in the good bacteria on the 19th. I change between 25 - 50 percent of the water. I never let it be over .025 or at the worst .050. Over the weekend, I even did a 50% water change along with a deep clean of the gravel, moving very slowly and sucking up as much waste and particles as I could, and removed all the fake plants and decor, gave them a good scrub and rinsed them in prime with water. I also squeezed the media gunk out in a bucket of tank water and placed it back into the filter.
I've recently read slope game that the Nitrite bacteria take weeks to many months to develop when I am doing a fish in a cycle, which I am. I have 4 skirt tetra and 8 neon tetras. I also read that the Nitrite-eating bacteria live on the substrate surface and on the inside of the aquarium glass, on decor, and in my filter on the media. If this is true, then how do I not remove what little my aquarium has, or if anything, how do I encourage growth?

Daily large water changes and deep gravel cleaning can slow nitrite bacteria from establishing. You could try reducing cleaning frequency, keep water changes smaller, and let some biofilm remain while monitoring nitrite and dosing conditioner to protect fish.

 

[featureles]

Hi there,
I've been trying to get my 20-gallon aquarium cycled since the 9th of October. Since Oct 19th, I have had plenty of ammonia-eating bacteria after I added Tetra Safe Start Plus and a new larger filter with new and old media in it. My aquarium's Ammonia stays at 0ppm. But Nitrite spikes daily regardless of how many waters changes I do; I always vacuum the gravel.
I've been water changing literally every single night since I put in the good bacteria on the 19th. I change between 25 - 50 percent of the water. I never let it be over .025 or at the worst .050. Over the weekend, I even did a 50% water change along with a deep clean of the gravel, moving very slowly and sucking up as much waste and particles as I could, and removed all the fake plants and decor, gave them a good scrub and rinsed them in prime with water. I also squeezed the media gunk out in a bucket of tank water and placed it back into the filter.
I've recently read that the Nitrite bacteria take weeks to many months to develop when I am doing a fish in a cycle, which I am. I have 4 skirt tetra and 8 neon tetras. I also read that the Nitrite-eating bacteria live on the substrate surface and on the inside of the aquarium glass, on decor, and in my filter on the media. If this is true, then how do I not remove what little my aquarium has, or if anything, how do I encourage growth? run 3

It sounds like your cycle is progressing normally — ammonia at 0 ppm means your first stage bacteria are established, but the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (the second stage) always take longer to catch up. Nitrite spikes during a fish-in cycle are very common.

The main thing is: try not to “over-clean.” Deep gravel vacs, scrubbing decor, and squeezing media too often can slow the process because that’s exactly where the beneficial bacteria are trying to colonize. You only need to rinse filter media gently in old tank water when flow is reduced — not routinely.

Continue doing water changes to keep nitrite under control for the fish (that part you’re doing right), but avoid deep substrate cleans for now. Consistency is more important than heavy maintenance.
Time and stable conditions are what grow nitrite-eating bacteria. Once you start seeing nitrite drop to 0 within 24 hours without a spike, you’ll know the second stage has caught up. You’re close — just be patient.

 

[TylerJames]

That makes sense. Cutting back on the heavy cleaning and smaller water changes sounds like a smarter approach while the tank stabilizes. I’ll keep an eye on the nitrites and adjust from there.