How Much Longer

[cheerycherry]

Im now on week 4 of my fishless cyle and still my nitrites arent going down

Everything is all set up! all I need is my lovely cichlids now and I am getting imptient.My 3ft didnt take this long so im guessing a 300 ltr tank will take longer due to the volume?

I want my fish

 

[OldMan47]

You might try a very large water change to get it where you can monitor what is happening to your nitrites. Of course you would dose the new water with ammonia to the usual levels. You may find that the nitrites are coming down on their own and you just haven't been able to see it. It will also give you a head start on getting the nitrates down near where they will need to be before you add any fish.

 

[cheerycherry]

I did a 50% water change last week cause my cycle seemed to have stalled and the ph was low though? I thought doing another change would prolong even more or isnt that the case?

Ammonia is being processed down to 0 in about 12 hours now its just the nitrites are sticking at the same level constantly

 

[cheerycherry]

I did another 50% change today and also raised the ph to 8.0 so hoping it might help it a little.My heater is set on 32 but wont budge above 28 for some reason,its been like that for days now.

Nitrites are still at the same level though

 

[OldMan47]

The cycle is basically unaffected by how many water changes and how big. The bacteria develop in the filter and on surfaces so it doesn't affect them when the water is changed. Many people will advocate a 90% or more water change at your stage of the cycle in the belief that it will actually speed up the cycle a bit by not exposing the developing nitrite eaters to excessive levels. I have no idea if there is any sound technical basis to that but it is a typical suggestion for some people.