3 Weeks With 10g Tank And Still No Nitrite :(

So I have been trying to get the cycle started and have been doing daily water changes (5 daysin a row)after I found my ammonia LVL to be spiked ( I didn't know about nitro cycle and got some bad info on fish for my 10gallon)
I've added in Nutrafin cycle and my water readings are decent according to petsmart, besides the ammonia of course.
It is now around 0.6-1.2 (which is down from 6.1)
I'm getting frustrated.
I've stopped feeding them twice a day ,which us what I was doing for weeks.
Now I'm feeding every other day.
I also switched some of my fish over to my new 65 gallon on the advice from this forum as neither tank has been cycled.
I just did that 2 days ago and yesterday.
My Angel is noticeably doing better in the 65.
So I have 3 Cory catfish 1 Gourami and 1 dwarf frog in the 10 gallon tank.
Do I just keep up with the daily water changes? I did some big ones in the beginning (70% then 50% ) now I'm doing about 20-25% . I always have my 3 gallon tank on standby filled up so there is no temp change to shock them and use conditioner with the bacteria boost I mentioned. But still no nitrite!!
Do I just need to be more patient?
Help please.

 

It sounds like the bacteria you're using isn't doing much. Without adding bacteria, not seeing nitrite at 3 weeks into a fish-in cycle is totally normal. I'd recommend getting some tetra safe start if you want to speed things up, otherwise just keep up with daily water changes and keep combined ammonia and nitrite below 1 ppm until the cycle completes.

 

Thx , will do

 

Are you seeing any nitrates? Often when bottled bacteria is used there never is a nitrite spike and if there is it happens so quick it can be missed. I don't know it the BB you added would cause this but it happens often when Tetra Safe Start has been used.

 

I only saw nitrite in my 10 gallon once and it only lasted about a day (probably less but I didn’t check till the next morning) and it was because the ammonia source was removed. I never saw it in my actual cycling process and used SeaChem Stability.

 

Never trust the pet store tests many times the staff may not be fish people and don’t know how to perform the tests correctly and accurately. It’s best to get your own test kit. Second would be stop adding anything to the water. The kick start or water treatments may neutralize all ammonia in the water and stop the cycling. Look up what you are using. The bottled bacteria works great but the other water treatments might kill it off. Test your tap water specifically for chlorine but also ammonia. There’s a few methods to remove chlorine for aquarium use and many pretreat options but research each one (some will absorbed the ammonia in the tank and break your cycle)

 

I recommend Using Seachem Seed Stability! it introduces denitrifying bacteria and has worked for me in the past!

I recommend Using Seachem Seed Stability! it introduces denitrifying bacteria and has worked for me in the past!

just read the thread again and I missed that you used stability!!! in that case I recommend using seed for a few days and then dosing stability after. I generally do about 3-5 days of Seachem Seed then 3 days of stability before introducing fish and it seems to do the trick!

 

I recommend Using Seachem Seed Stability! it introduces denitrifying bacteria and has worked for me in the past!


just read the thread again and I missed that you used stability!!! in that case I recommend using seed for a few days and then dosing stability after. I generally do about 3-5 days of Seachem Seed then 3 days of stability before introducing fish and it seems to do the trick!

So now I have quite a nitrite spike, I did a 30% water change and have been using seachem stability for 5 days. I've heard salt can help with nitrite spike. It was very high at 5ppm I believe. I have 65 gallon that isn't cycled would u recommend putting my 3 Corys in the 65 till I can get the tank stabilized? I also have an ADF in the 10. I also have 3 gallon tank I could put the afk