At the maintenance feeding point - unsure what to do.

[VladVenger]

Yesterday:
My ammonia read 0ppm for 2 consecutive every other day readings. My nitrite has been off the charts for a while (API test kit going full purple immediately) so I did a 50% water change and then added the 1ppm feeding. Nitrite remained 5ppm+ after the water change.

Today:
I am guessing I was supposed to test every other day still but I tested for a check up after 24 hours.
The ammonia is now 0ppm again and nitrite is more than 5ppm still.

I don't know what to do now. Do I add the full dose of ammonia tomorrow, or should I wait before adding ammonia? (I need to keep the bacteria fed right?) I could also do another water change now and see what my nitrite is?

Any help appreciated.

 

[Byron]

Once established, the nitrifying bacteria will not die off for a long time. It can go into a sort of hibernation or suspended state. You should find the process outlined in this article
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[Gruntle]

Leave it be for a while (until your nitrites are clearly under 1ppm).

Your ammonia bacteria appear to have grown nicely. Your nitrite bacteria take quite a while longer to establish. So adding more ammonia just increases the amount of nitrite to be processed, up to the point where they go over 16ppm (and with "hobby" test kits only reading to 5ppm it's not really easy to tell just where your level is at) at which point the cycle will stall.

As Byron says, the ammonia bacteria are quite hardy, and will remain active for long enough that when your nitrite bacteria catch up, they'll still be right to go.