Day 10 And Not Sure What Is Happening

[deannos]

On day 10 following the instructions on this forum, but not sure if it's working or not. Since the initial dose of ammonia, my readings have more or less stayed the same. I'm using the API master kit and get the following readings, is it a case of just waiting and testing every 3 days, or has something gone wrong
 
Ammonia 2-4 ppm (stayed the same)
Nitrite 0ppm   (stayed the same)
Nitrate day 1 - 10ppm
            day 4 - 20ppm
            day 7 - 5ppm
            day 10 - 5ppm

 

[BiggTexx]

This is one of those be patient, wait and see types of scenarios.  Looking at your readings, it appears you are still in the initial stage of the cycle.  The ammonia will not start to break down until nitrites are present in the tank.
 
Would you happen to have access to a friend or family member with a running tank?  If you ask nicely, you may be able to grab some of their filter media to give your tank a good jump-start.

 

[deannos]

Went round a friends and he gave me some filter medium, so hopefully things will progress quicker now

 

[FawnN]

Tetra Safestart would work with growing your bacteria colony and speed up your cycle.  I am normally an old school kinda person when it comes to cycling, but when I tried this out, it was amazing!!  Cycled my tank in a week!!  Totally love this stuff. 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hmm, should be seeing a reduction in ammonia after 10 days, not always though.
 
What is your ph?
And what temp is tank at?
 
 

Tetra Safestart would work with growing your bacteria colony and speed up your cycle.  I am normally an old school kinda person when it comes to cycling, but when I tried this out, it was amazing!!  Cycled my tank in a week!!  Totally love this stuff. 

 
Better with Dr Tim's One and Only imho, Tetra Safe Start is my second choice as does not always work.