Confused, need help

Alright folks. I need some help and advice. Ive been keeping tanks for a while now. And I was recently intrigued by the whole bottle bacteria fad when it comes to cycling tanks. Sooo, I went a picked me up an API perfect start/quick start kit. For anybody who has used this product successfuly, pleaseeee give me peace of mind on what the heck is going on.
Per the instructions, I started a new 10 gallon tank, set it up with dechlorinator and everything else, heater at 82 F, filter going with new media, and added pure ammonia. Got it up to 2-4 ppm, and then added the correct dosage of recommend API quick start. I waited about 2.5 weeks. Nothing was happening. I was confused, bc even in previous tanks, naturally the ammonia levels are supposed to start going down after about the 2 weeks mark. I waited it out. And the end of the second week, my ammonia levels dropped to about 1ppm. However, there were no nitrites showing. No nitrates either. I have no idea where my ammonia was going, bc I wasn't doing a planted tank, and this is a fishless cycle. I waited a couple of days bc I thought maybe there was just a delay in the nitrite spike, but nada. Nothing happened. My ammonia levels were about to reach 0, soi redosed the ammonia back up to 2ppm so that any bacteria that was in the tank wouldn't starve. And then I did another dosage of the API quick start. Again, there are still no nitrites or nitrates in my tank, and my ammonia had been dropping. I have no idea if that was the right thing to do. I'm kinda just guessing at this point. These bottle bacterias suckkkk. Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I think you need to add more ammonia, above 3ppm.
The bottled bacteria needs to feed on something.

 

Okay, I'll do that! But do you have any idea why my ammonia would be dropping without any trace of nitrites or nitrates?

 

Okay, I'll do that! But do you have any idea why my ammonia would be dropping without any trace of nitrites or nitrates?

That I'm not sure, but if you waited 2,5 weeks, I think that's long. I would test immediately after a couple of days and readjust the ammonia if needed, and continue testing every couple of days. What you want to see is a decline in the ammonia followed by a rise on the nitrites. Then a decline of the nitrites followed by a rise of the nitrates. The whole cycle could be ready in 4 weeks. If using the bottled bacteria, it could accelerate by a couple of days, not so sure how much though.

 

It doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong... I tried using QuickStart to cycle a tank and it literally didn’t help AT ALL. It was faster without it. I’m not sure what it is but I have horrible luck with bottled bacteria. I’ve tried safestart, quickstart, and more. They never work! The only tip I can give is just dose back to 2 whenever it falls to feed the bacteria (I can’t remember if you said you already dosed it back up). Good luck and let us know if it works for you!