Fishless cycle help: First time aquarium owner seeking advice

HI all,
I am currently on my 5th day since adding Dr Tims one and only and dosing 2ppm of ammonia (havent redosed ammonia yet, was away for a day). I have read up on the proper way to fishless cycle but I still have a question I was hoping someone could help me with. Here are my water readings for Feb 14th:
pH = 7.6
Ammonia = 0 - .25ppm
Nitrite = 2 - 5ppm
Nitrate = 10 - 20ppm

It’s tough to tell the exact color on my API test kit, I have attached a picture for your reference. My question is should I dose the regular 2ppm ammonia with my nitrite readings being where they are? I know its not good to let the nitrite concentration get above 5ppm. What do you guys think?

 

Well in a fishless cycle it doesn't matter how high the Am, NI or Na get. As long as when the cycle is finished the Am and Na rare zero is all the matters. It is easier to the the readings when the color is against a white background.

Oh, and welcome to fishlore! We have hundreds of very helpful fishlorians that are always ready to help you!

 

Well in a fishless cycle it doesn't matter how high the Am, NI or Na get. As long as when the cycle is finished the Am and Na rare zero is all the matters. It is easier to the the readings when the color is against a white background.

Oh, and welcome to fishlore! We have hundreds of very helpful fishlorians that are always ready to help you!

Thanks! Excited to join this community. Appreciate your response, I was reading elsewhere that if the nitrite levels get too high that it greatly slows down the cycle time and you might have to do a large water change to lower the concentration. Have you found this to be the case from your experience?

 

I have never had that experience but to be safe you could keep it under 5ppm.

 

I use dr tims for my cycle. I like to add 2ppm whenever ammonia and nitrite are below 1ppm. Gives the nitrite bacteria time to grow without being overwhelmed. Otherwise you may end up with like 30ppm if you add ammonia every time ammonia levels are below 1. It's going to lag behind a little bit because it's the second step so no problems giving it a chance to catch up.

 

To start with, I am very new to this hobbie. I am fortunate to have a LFS that is privately owned and is very knowledgeable. I have now had my aquarium for 3 months. I did no dosing. They came and set it up and I let it cycle naturally. After 4 weeks when parameters were spot on I added 3 yellowtail damsels. At 6 weeks I added 2 clowns. I have absolutely had great parameters. Good luck with your new hobby. I do tons of research. I also have the awesome book, 3rd edition SALTWATER AQUARIUMS for DUMMIES, GREGORY SKOMAL, PhD. Awesome aquarium bible for beginners.

 

To start with, I am very new to this hobbie. I am fortunate to have a LFS that is privately owned and is very knowledgeable. I have now had my aquarium for 3 months. I did no dosing. They came and set it up and I let it cycle naturally. After 4 weeks when parameters were spot on I added 3 yellowtail damsels. At 6 weeks I added 2 clowns. I have absolutely had great parameters. Good luck with your new hobby. I do tons of research. I also have the awesome book, 3rd edition SALTWATER AQUARIUMS for DUMMIES, GREGORY SKOMAL, PhD. Awesome aquarium bible for beginners.

Cycling saltwater is very different than freshwater. Freshwater you have to dose. Saltwater you can have live rock and live sand to cycle your tank which I'm assuming you had. Totally different ball game

 

Cycling saltwater is very different than freshwater. Freshwater you have to dose. Saltwater you can have live rock and live sand to cycle your tank which I'm assuming you had. Totally different ball game

Absolutely. Never crossed my mind we were talking fresh. been Reading to much about saltwater lol. Sorry for the mistake.

 

How in the world are you getting nitrites after only 5 days?

 

How in the world are you getting nitrites after only 5 days?

I have to agree with you...…………………………….

 

How in the world are you getting nitrites after only 5 days?

I am quite surprised myself.

Feb 6th: I hard-scaped and filled my 15 gallon fluval flex, I used Carib-sea eco complete substrate, added spider wood and ryuoh stone, added water (conditioned)

Feb 10th: Monday, I added my Dr Tims One and Only, dosed 2ppm of ammonia.

Feb 11th: Tuesday, I tested the water (still at 2ppm ammonia and 0ppm of nitrite), turned the heater up to 82 degrees to help with bacterial growth

Feb 12th: Wednesday, Added live plants (Java fern, anubias nana petite, dwarf hairgrass, bacopa moneri, staurogyne repense), dosed Seachem Flourish Excel and Seachem Flourish

Feb 14th: Friday, Tested the water and had the results mentioned and shown above.

I have to agree with you...…………………………….

I added some detailed information on my reply to Morpheus. I fully expected this to take several weeks. I'm not sure if there was any speed increase from the wood / plants / rocks / substrate I used.

I use dr tims for my cycle. I like to add 2ppm whenever ammonia and nitrite are below 1ppm. Gives the nitrite bacteria time to grow without being overwhelmed. Otherwise you may end up with like 30ppm if you add ammonia every time ammonia levels are below 1. It's going to lag behind a little bit because it's the second step so no problems giving it a chance to catch up.

I appreciate your insight. I think I might wait another day to re-dose 2ppm of ammonia to give the nitrite bacteria time to catch up.