Cycling With Ammonia

[RockyStafford]

Hi everyone, looking for a bit of help or advice please, I've been cycling my tank using Kleenoff Ammonia prior to that though on the 19th September i added a little filter media from an established tank, I've been testing and dosing my tank daily with ammonia to keep it at 4-5ppm, Here are my last few results, Sorry for it being a little long winded just wanted to make sure i give you all the results you need, All these results are from the day after adding the Ammonia;

29th Sept;
Ammonia - 2.0ppm
NitrIte - 0.25ppm
NitrAte - 40ppm
PH - 7.6
High Range PH - 7.4
Water temp -28.6

30th Sept
Ammonia - 1.0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm off the scale
NitrAte - 40ppm

1st Oct
Ammonia - 0.25ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm off the scale
NitrAte - 5.0ppm

2nd Oct
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm off the scale
NitrAte - 5.0ppm

3rd Oct
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 5.0ppm off the scale
NitrAte - 80ppm

My temperature and PH of the water has stayed the same throughout, i have a few live plants in their at the moment, I'm just not too sure on what to do or what to expect next? If anyone could advise me on what to do next it would be appreciated, I've only ever done a fish-in cycle on 1 tank before im cycling this 125litre as an upgrade to my smaller tank.

Thank you anyone for any help or advice.
Regards
Shaun

 

[fluttermoth]

I would top up the ammonia to only around 2ppm while you're going through the nitrite spike. If the nitrate gets up near the 100ppm level, you might want to think about doing a water change, as high nitrate can sometimes stall a cycle.

Apart from that, it's all looking good; the media you transferred has obviously done it's job and you're nearly cycled already

 

[RockyStafford]

What should i expect to see next? A drop in NitrItes eventually? Should i do a partial water change now? Or leave it be? I'm just surprised the cycle is near the end already to be honest wasnt expecting it to be so soon and so effortless.

Thank you again
Regards
Shaun

 

[fluttermoth]

As the nitrite is off the scale, it might be a good idea do do a water change to bring it down a bit. Leave some though and it will soon drop to zero.

Already mature media is a huge help with cycling, people often underestimate it.

 

[RockyStafford]

I'll be doing a partial water change tomorrow then to see if that helps a little bit, will post results up once its run for a while after, Anything else i should do with it? Or just carry on as i am? I'll start adding around 2-3ppm instead of 4-5ppm.

Regards
Shaun