nitrites forever???

[mattj]

I've never had this happen before. But, I'm trying to get a new tank to cycle and have been getting positive nitrite readings for almost 2 weeks now? I've never had to wait more than a week. Any suggestions/ideas?

 

[OrionGirl]

Have you verified that the water parameters are conducive to bacterial growths? An extremely low pH can inhibit bacteria. If the chemistry seems coreect, try moving some media from a healthy tank in. A fresh infusion of the bacteria may help. Otherwise, it will take time. 2 weeks is not that unusual for the nitrite phase, IME.

 

[RTR]

To expand OG's comments a tad, you might test - or ask the LFS to test - the KH of the water as well. Low KH waters are prone to pH drop during cycling or when heavily loaded with fish due to low buffering capacity. You may need to supplement the KH via sodium bicarbonate, or may just need to do a water change to replenish the KH. But do not take action like this without knowing the pH/KH.