High nitrites while cycling

I have been fishless cycling my tank for 14 days. My pH is between 6.6-6.8, ammonia is 0.25, nitrite is 5.0, and nitrate is at 10

I was wondering if I needed to do something about the high nitrites because they have been this high for over a week and not much is changing. My ph has also dropped from 7.2 to 6.8-6.6 and I wasn’t sure if that was a problem. I have not been dosing ammonia since I started seeing nitrites.

 

I have been fishless cycling my tank for 14 days. My pH is between 6.6-6.8, ammonia is 0.25, nitrite is 5.0, and nitrate is at 10

I was wondering if I needed to do something about the high nitrites because they have been this high for over a week and not much is changing. My ph has also dropped from 7.2 to 6.8-6.6 and I wasn’t sure if that was a problem. I have not been dosing ammonia since I started seeing nitrites.

Welcome to Fishlore!

Your nitrites could be coming down, but you’ve exceeded the maximum measurement of 5.0 ppm so it doesn’t seem to be moving. It won’t appear to move until your nitrite level drops below 5.0 ppm.

What ppm were you dosing ammonia to and how often? Have you tested your source water for nitrates?

If this was my tank, I’d do a 50% water change to bring down the level of nitrites. Test the level of nitrites after the water change and post the results here.

 

Post in thread 'Early on Cycle Ammonia Questions' https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...n-cycle-ammonia-questions.530428/post-5220080

 

I was using fish food as my ammonia source so I’m not sure what the dosage was but the ammonia got to 2.0. I did not test my tap water for nitrates

 

According to Dr. Tim:

"High nitrite inhibits the bacteria and stalls the cycle. If you have super high nitrite do a 33-50% water change without disturbing the substrate. Do not add chemicals to de-toxify the nitrite,"