High nitrites... aaarrggg

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Iā€™m in the process of cycling my tank (fishless) itā€™s been 10 days. Initially there was some ammonia around 0.25ppm but that is 0ppm now. The nitrites were around 0.25ppm and nitrates around 40ppm (thatā€™s what my tap water reading is) now my nitrites are 0.5ppm and nitrates are 80ppm so I can see some evidence of the cycle but Iā€™m not sure how to reduce the nitrites sufficiently to start thinking about fish. I have an Aquaone 240l tank with a boyu 35EF filter. It has a few plants in it. Would more plants help reduce the nitrite levels or would it be regular water changes.
 
Don't bother testing for nitrates until the tank has finished cycling because nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate, and you get a false reading.

Only test for ammonia and nitrite now.

A nitrite reading of 0.5ppm is fine and nothing to worry about. Just let it run.

When ammonia has gone up and come back to 0ppm, and nitrite has gone up and come back to 0ppm, and the nitrates start to go up, then the tank has cycled. This usually takes 4-6 weeks but can be less if you use a liquid filter bacteria supplement.
 

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