High Nitrites Won't Go Down

I've been cycling my tank for around 2 weeks now and I'm worried because my nitrites aren't going down and are high. I did a fishless cycle by introducing beneficial bacteria and dosing with bottled ammonia. Once I saw the nitrites spiking, ammonia going down and nitrates start forming I stopped dosing the tank with ammonia. Now the ammonia has gone back down to 0ppm, but the nitrites are staying at 5.0ppm+ and won't budge. The nitrates are now around 7ppm. It has been this way for around a week now. Is my cycle stalled? Is everything fine and I just need to wait? Should I do a water change to lower the nitrites? Should I keep dosing with ammonia? Any help would be appreciated. .

-40 gallon
-78 degrees temp
-No plants
-No lights on

 

No not stalled about 1/2 way through. It takes a month or so... give or take.

You can do a water change to reduce the nitrites. It is going to be waiting and patients for sure.

 

I would change only enough water to get the nitrites below 5 ppm and then just wait. Don’t add anything else.

 

Okay I'll try the water change and wait it out. So I won't be starving the bacteria by not adding anymore ammonia and keeping it at 0ppm while the cycle finishes?

 

Okay I'll try the water change and wait it out. So I won't be starving the bacteria by not adding anymore ammonia and keeping it at 0ppm while the cycle finishes?

They won't starve. You can add more ammonia once the nitrites start dropping. If you add more now you'll likely spike nitrites above 5 ppm again.

 

So my Nitrates and Nitrites are finally at 0ppm, but for some reason my ammonia went up from 0ppm to around 1ppm. Does this mean there is a lack of beneficial bacteria now or do I just need to do a partial water change?

 

So my Nitrates and Nitrites are finally at 0ppm, but for some reason my ammonia went up from 0ppm to around 1ppm. Does this mean there is a lack of beneficial bacteria now?

Maybe...did you add more ammonia?

Also, what "beneficial bacteria" did you add? Most bottled bacterial supplements don't have the right strains ("species") of bacteria. They have nitrifying bacteria that's short-lived instead of the long-lived nitrifiers that we want.

I heard Tetra SafeStart, Tetra SafeStart Plus, Fritz Zyme 7, Fritz TurboStart & Fritz Zyme 360 are the only bottled bacterial supplements on the market with the right strains of nitrifying bacteria. Wrong strains work for a couple of weeks then die off.

 

No I didn't add any Ammonia. I used Dr. Tim's One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria. I read really good reviews on it. I went with this instead of Fritz.