Can 3-gallon Tank Cycle Without Nitrites Showing?

[GuppyGoddess]

In the middle of July, I aquired a new 3-gallon Eclipse tank. It's been cycling with two guppies and I've been testing the water daily and had watched the ammonia levels go up to 1 ppm and hover around there for a few weeks. There hasn't been any sign of nitrites, yet the ammonia levels are going down.

The gal at a local fish store told me that with my small tank and two fish, that the nitrite cycle may never really show as dramatically as it would if I had more fish and/or a larger tank. There aren't any nitrates either.

I was changing 10% of the water daily, but over the last week decreased to 10% every three days (and this is when the ammonia decreased).

Is it possibly my tank is nearly done or that nitrates may begin showing? Any ideas on why the ammonia is going down?

Oh, and hello everyone. This is my first post

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there and welcome to the beginner section!

The advice you were given is correct. It can be extremely difficult to see the signs of a cycle when its a very small tank with only a couple of fish and frequent water changes are done. The cycle will still be taking place because ammonia will be getting to the filter, but the whole process will just be slow and take place "below the radar" of the liquid test kits.

Did you take and record regular nitrate(NO3) tests? Sometimes one can see a slow increase (even though there will be erratic swings usually) in nitrate level over the course of time.

The usual test for the end of a fish-in cycle is if you can go for a week without water changes and not see a trace of ammonia or nitrite(NO2) show up with twice daily liquid-reagent tests.

~~waterdrop~~