Can Someone Tell Me Where I Am In My Fishless Cycle?

[DJC1]

Started this over a week ago using the add and wait method, but the ammonia didnt seem to be dropping.
So about four days ago I empty the tank (98%), and refill, and then add Bactinettes.
I have taken measurements and just need some help as to where exactly I am at the moment.

18th Aug (After the approx. 98% water change, but before adding Bactinettes).

Ammonia - 0.25 (probably due to about a couple of inches of water remaining from the pervious load)
pH - 7.8
Nitrite - 0

Add Bactinettes

19th Aug (12 hours later)

Ammonia - 0.50
Nitrite - 0.50
Nitrate - 8

19th Aug (12 hours later)

Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0.25

Add enough ammonia to take it up to 4ppm

20th Aug (24'ish hours later)

Ammonia - 4'ish - I find it really difficult to tell exactly where the ammonia reading is.

21st August (18'ish hours later)

Ammonia - it looks like 2ppm, but I can't be certain
Nitrite - 2

?!?

 

[CruX]

Are your nitrates rising? I don't know if bactinettes works, I guess it must be doing something but you just need to keep plugging away at it. It does speed up towards the end, but early on it seems to take forever. Bacteria must divide in order to multiply, so if it takes 24 hours for 100 to divide into 200 then it will take the same time for 1 million to divide into 2 million.

 

[DJC1]

Are your nitrates rising? I don't know if bactinettes works, I guess it must be doing something but you just need to keep plugging away at it. It does speed up towards the end, but early on it seems to take forever. Bacteria must divide in order to multiply, so if it takes 24 hours for 100 to divide into 200 then it will take the same time for 1 million to divide into 2 million.

I've just checked the nitrate, and it has gone up very marginally to 10.

 

[Darkstar]

(probably due to about a couple of inches of water remaining from the pervious load)

Are you removing all of the water at each water change?

 

[DJC1]

It was filled with a near complete change before adding the Bactinettes, it has not had any changed since (apart from one top-up (dechlorinated)).

 

[Rooster]

ANOTHER Watched kettle ! cycling could take MONTHS so I would change to testing every 2-3 days, for ammonia only... when that starts to drop test for nItrates.... dont forget to keep adding the ammonia when this happens.

Its just a waiting game, so WAIT ! Theres no way to speed this up apart from up the temp (80F+) or seed it with some mature media.
Plants will mess with your mind (fudge the tests) no need to change any water until the cycles done.

 

[DJC1]

ANOTHER Watched kettle ! cycling could take MONTHS so I would change to testing every 2-3 days, for ammonia only... when that starts to drop test for nItrates.... dont forget to keep adding the ammonia when this happens.

Its just a waiting game, so WAIT ! Theres no way to speed this up apart from up the temp (80F+) or seed it with some mature media.
Plants will mess with your mind (fudge the tests) no need to change any water until the cycles done.

It's only a watched kettle based on the recommendations on here regarding Bactinettes.

'Apparantly' you are meant to add fish after around 48 hours of adding the Bactinettes. As I didn't want to do this, and preferred to wait until I was certain the levels were ok, I added ammonia to take the levels up to 4ppm after they had dropped off, and am trying to figure out where I am in the cycle.

 

[CruX]

is Bactinettes the refrigerated stuff? If not then it probably isn't worth it, it might kick start the process or it might not, I can't see it actually seeding the filter and cycling it from the get go. If your Ammonia is dropping to zero fast, but you still have nitrites and have raising nitrates then this would suggest you are going into the final stage of cycling. If neither are dropping off fast then you might be in some limbo between the ammonia spike and the nitrite spike. Possibly caused by Bactinettes, this isn't a problem as such but it could go backwards if the ammonia loving bacteria doesn't start catering for the nitrtite loving stuff as it will start to die off from starvation.

I have just been told that there is a product available that adds raw nitrite into your tank so you can start colonating the nitrite loving bacteria at the same time as the ammonia loving bacteria. He never said if it was a househould product or an aquarium product, I can't see it being 100% true but I am intrigued non the less.