Bedraggled

I am doing a fishless cycle (using fish food) on my 55 gal aquarium. I am about three weeks into the cycle.

My ammonia has now been zero for the past five days. Nitrites have risen and stayed in the 2 to 5 range (I cant decide which color), and I am getting nitrates at 10-20.. My nitrites are not coming down. I am still feeding the tank fish food twice a day. How long should it typically take for the nitrites to start dropping?

pinkfloydpuffer

I'm not sure how long it typically takes, but it pretty much always takes longer than the ammonia to come down.

sgould

Great job going fishless! Keep going...sounds like everything is moving along normally. Using fish food, you'll want to vac the substrate extremely thoroughly after the cycle is done, as it will be quite messy.

Beeker

For a tank that size it sounds like you need at least another week or two. But you are doing a great job. You are almost there!
Make sure you vac really well to clean out the excess food when the cycle is over.

Bedraggled

Thanks. I guess I am just anxious and a bit impatient..LOL In the meantime, I will just keep doing what I am doing.