Can high Nitrites stall a fishless cycle?

I'm trying to figure out my next course of action for a fishless cycle. I started by dosing 4ppm of ammonia on Jan 7th, on the 11th my ammonia drop to 2ppm and by the 15th from 4ppm to .25ppm by morning. Nitrites I think are over 5ppm, when I put in the drops the bottom of the tube turns dark purple immediately and I also have about 5ppm nitrates. My pH also dropped from 7.6 to about 6.6.
Tank is heavily planted soil capped with sand. Also don't know if it matters, but I got green algae on the glass and about 15 bladder snails.

So my questions are.

Should I lower the ammonia I put in everyday? (currently putting in 4ppm when it starts getting closer to .50ppm)
When do I stop adding ammonia?
Do I need to do a water change to lower my nitrites?

 

Did you add any kind of bottled bacteria or seed filter material from a cycled tank? Things seem to be moving forward quickly with this cycle. My recommendations will depend on the answer to this question.

 

Did you add any kind of bottled bacteria or seed filter material from a cycled tank? Things seem to be moving forward quickly with this cycle. My recommendations will depend on the answer to this question.

No bottled bacteria or cycled media.
Tank was set up for about a week before I started adding ammonia.
I do have .25 ammonia in my tap.
I have a 2nd tank that I'm also cycling that moving along the same way.

 

No bottled bacteria or cycled media.
Tank was set up for about a week before I started adding ammonia.
I do have .25 ammonia in my tap.
I have a 2nd tank that I'm also cycling that moving along the same way.

I would lower the amount of ammonia to about 2 ppm. I don't think you can add enough fish to a 10 gallon tank to produce even that much ammonia but 2 is a good number and should grow enough bacteria to handle the bio-load you will have in this tank. Since you are already seeing nitrites you may want to only add ammonia every other day. In other words. Even if it goes back down to close to zero daily don't add it each time it gets that low. You will want to continue adding it until the day before you put fish in there. Your cycle will be complete when both ammonia and nitrites are zero 24 hours after adding ammonia and you are seeing some nitrates.

Since your PH has dropped down so low you may need to do a water change to get it back up to the same level as your source water. When the PH drops as low as what you are seeing the cycle will struggle and can stall. If you find that your PH keeps dropping this low you may want to consider adding some crushed coral to your filter. It won't immediately raise your PH so give it a few days. You may be able to keep it up without the crushed coral though with water changes.

 

I would lower the amount of ammonia to about 2 ppm. I don't think you can add enough fish to a 10 gallon tank to produce even that much ammonia but 2 is a good number and should grow enough bacteria to handle the bio-load you will have in this tank. Since you are already seeing nitrites you may want to only add ammonia every other day. In other words. Even if it goes back down to close to zero daily don't add it each time it gets that low. You will want to continue adding it until the day before you put fish in there. Your cycle will be complete when both ammonia and nitrites are zero 24 hours after adding ammonia and you are seeing some nitrates.

Since your PH has dropped down so low you may need to do a water change to get it back up to the same level as your source water. When the PH drops as low as what you are seeing the cycle will struggle and can stall. If you find that your PH keeps dropping this low you may want to consider adding some crushed coral to your filter. It won't immediately raise your PH so give it a few days. You may be able to keep it up without the crushed coral though with water changes.

The tanks i'm cycling are 20 longs. The 10 on my profile is already cycled. I did a fish in my first time which was a LOT of work and I learned my lesson on that. The reason I choose 4ppm ammonia is because i'm planning on a few pea puffer and heard they are messy eaters.

What percent should I change?
Add 2ppm ammonia every other day right?

 

The tanks i'm cycling are 20 longs. The 10 on my profile is already cycled. I did a fish in my first time which was a LOT of work and I learned my lesson on that. The reason I choose 4ppm ammonia is because i'm planning on a few pea puffer and heard they are messy eaters.

What percent should I change?
Add 2ppm ammonia every other day right?

Gotcha Let your tests be your guide as to how much to change. 4ppm in what is going to be a heavily stocked tank isn't too much but most of the time that much isn't necessary. It won't hurt anything but will shoot the nitrites and nitrates up pretty high.

Only add it every other night if it is going down close to zero between additions. You will know it is time for a water change if it stops going down. When PH drops too low or both nitrites and nitrates get too high the cycle has been known to stall. Normally all it takes is a water change to get it going again.

The beauty of having a cycled tank is one never has to go through the long drawn out cycling process again. I keep extra media in my main tank that I can pull anytime I need to set up another tank. In your case though it seems like your tanks are moving right along. Get and keep the PH up with either crushed coral or hopefully just water changes and the cycle in both tanks should be done before you know it.

 

Will cuttlebone work for raising pH?

 

Will cuttlebone work for raising pH?

Possible I suppose but I don't know. Is the PH staying close to the same as your source water in your cycled tank? If it is then water changes in this tank should be all that is needed.

 

Possible I suppose but I don't know. Is the PH staying close to the same as your source water in your cycled tank? If it is then water changes in this tank should be all that is needed.

My cycled tank keeps a 7.6

 

My cycled tank keeps a 7.6

That tells me that your source water has what it needs to keep the PH constant. Water changes in the cycling ones should work then. Often the cycling process will cause the PH to go down.

 

That tells me that your source water has what it needs to keep the PH constant. Water changes in the cycling ones should work then. Often the cycling process will cause the PH to go down.

Ok, Thanks for all the info & help.
Hopefully by next month I'll have something to look at besides plants and snails.