Nitrite levels are very high

This is day 16 of me trying to cycle my tank. I’ve been using Dr. Tim’s aquatics ammonium chloride to start it off, followed by microbacteria7 that I’ve been dosing daily. I only used the ammonia in the first couple days then stopped because the reading started going kind of high. It’s was smooth sailing for the following 10 days then nitrite spiked and I haven’t noticed a significant conversion to nitrate in the last 4 days. I brought a sample into the local shop and they said the nitrites are fairly high around 2ppm and I did around a 35%-40% water change. The ammonia is still present, Ph looks to be around 7.8-8.0, nitrites I believe are around 1-2 ppm and nitrates don’t appear to be present just yet even though the shop said their are small measurements of them. Im concerned I might have stalled my cycle because the nitrites were definitely much high then the pictures listed in the posting. Is this time frame okay? Should I expect a shift soon in nitrates? I just have no idea what to expect and I’ve been trying my best not to dwell on it but when you’ve spent hours every day just think about something it’s hard not to. I think I messed up… I thought my tank was cycled earlier then it was and I bought a couple small hardy coral just to break it in. I’m scared they will die. I’ve left the light on for the past couple days ( on a cycle, I currently have the Fluvalsea) just so coral get the exposures they need. I’m almost scared this will start an algae bloom so I’ve been using mostly blue light.
Also I forgot to mention the tank is a Nano 13 Gal. Around 5 pounds of rock half of which is live rock. I also included a live sand base in the very beginning.
I’ve been getting these reading for the last 4 days. Please help. I don’t know if time is the only solutions of if I messed something up.
Side note- these testers are hard to read. I have no idea what reading the nitrite levels even are

 

Welcome to Fishlore

If I am understanding the time line the readings are where they should be in a freshwater tank. It seems this is a saltwater tank though and I am not sure whether or not they are the same.

 

Correct so this is salt water. I’m praying they’re similar. This has been a fairly stressful couple weeks. And now I have a couple living things in there and I’m terrified of harming them.

 

When doing a fish in cycle I highly recommend daily water changes when nitrites spike but if i understand correctly it is fairly expensive doing that many water changes in a saltwater tank.

I am going to tag some saltwater Guru's to see if one or more of them can help you out Mike ryanr Rcslade124 Jesterrace If they can't help maybe they can tag someone else for you.

 

I have two 5 gal jugs full of water from the local shop. I go there atleast once a week so that won’t be an issue. If you think another water change would be beneficial let me know.
I just don’t know if I need to add more ammonia. I don’t want to increase the nitrite, but I also don’t want the nitrite converting bacteria to stave so that nitrate never gets converted

 

I have two 5 gal jugs full of water from the local shop. I go there atleast once a week so that won’t be an issue. If you think another water change would be beneficial let me know.
I just don’t know if I need to add more ammonia. I don’t want to increase the nitrite, but I also don’t want the nitrite converting bacteria to stave so that nitrate never gets converted

The thing is. I am not sure it is the same for saltwater as it is for freshwater so it might be best to wait for someone that knows a lot more than i do before doing anything. I don't know if nitrites are as harmful for corals as they are for freshwater fish. I wouldn't add anymore ammonia until I heard from someone else. I feel sure the nitrites will be fine without adding any more ammonia right now.

 

Update after water change

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore,
Corals can be quite sensitive to parameters, and any level of ammonia or nitrite is not great. Even nitrates can cause a problem. So keep an eye on them.
Cycling a SW tank can take anywhere from 'instant' to months, depending how it's cycled, so 16 days isn't unusual.
For now, I would let things go, don't go adding chemicals to reduce the ammonia and nitrites. One thing you can do is to dose with Seachem Prime, that'll help detoxify the nitrites, yet still allow the bacteria to process it.
MicroBacter 7 has been hit and miss in the hobby, most recommend Dr Tim's One and Only, or Bio Spira (NB: depending on country, it may not be available), though I haven't used either, so I can't comment.
EDIT: And I'd also keep doing water changes every other day, or daily, depending on how often you can get water.

 

Thank you so much. I think things are starting to stabilize a little more. I was hesitant to doing another water change but the ammonia and nitrite drops fairly well. I feel absolutely horrible. The one thing I told myself is if I ever did this I would never put a coral/fish at risk and I read my tank wrong so now they’re at risk. The coral seem to be doing okay other then one ( the war coral) everything else is out and moving around acting normal. I’m praying things get stable. Also I haven’t been adding any form of chemicals other then the ammonia in the first couples days. Next tank I’ll be using the red me and only.

Hi, welcome to Fishlore,
Corals can be quite sensitive to parameters, and any level of ammonia or nitrite is not great. Even nitrates can cause a problem. So keep an eye on them.
Cycling a SW tank can take anywhere from 'instant' to months, depending how it's cycled, so 16 days isn't unusual.
For now, I would let things go, don't go adding chemicals to reduce the ammonia and nitrites. One thing you can do is to dose with Seachem Prime, that'll help detoxify the nitrites, yet still allow the bacteria to process it.
MicroBacter 7 has been hit and miss in the hobby, most recommend Dr Tim's One and Only, or Bio Spira (NB: depending on country, it may not be available), though I haven't used either, so I can't comment.
EDIT: And I'd also keep doing water changes every other day, or daily, depending on how often you can get water.

Hi, welcome to Fishlore,
Corals can be quite sensitive to parameters, and any level of ammonia or nitrite is not great. Even nitrates can cause a problem. So keep an eye on them.
Cycling a SW tank can take anywhere from 'instant' to months, depending how it's cycled, so 16 days isn't unusual.
For now, I would let things go, don't go adding chemicals to reduce the ammonia and nitrites. One thing you can do is to dose with Seachem Prime, that'll help detoxify the nitrites, yet still allow the bacteria to process it.
MicroBacter 7 has been hit and miss in the hobby, most recommend Dr Tim's One and Only, or Bio Spira (NB: depending on country, it may not be available), though I haven't used either, so I can't comment.
EDIT: And I'd also keep doing water changes every other day, or daily, depending on how often you can get water.

Thank you so much Ryan!!
What % water change do you think I should do? I can go get water daily so that wouldn’t be an issue.

 

No problem.
War corals (Favites) are a medium difficult coral to keep, so keep an eye on it. They are also primarily nocturnal filter feeders. So feeding with something like Reef Roids, and brine shrimp would be advantageous.
HOWEVER - given you're cycling, I wouldn't go adding too much to the system yet as any unconsumed food stuffs will ultimately raise ammonia etc.

 

I feel like I should be seeing some levels of nitrate by now

 

Are you still dosing ammonia at this point? IMHO once things get going you just let it do it's thing and quit adding ammonia. I've seen cycles take up to 60 days (especially if you go all dry rock), so it's not uncommon at this stage to be seeing the results that you currently have. The nitrite phase is usually what takes the longest.

 

Are you still dosing ammonia at this point? IMHO once things get going you just let it do it's thing and quit adding ammonia. I've seen cycles take up to 60 days (especially if you go all dry rock), so it's not uncommon at this stage to be seeing the results that you currently have. The nitrite phase is usually what takes the longest.

Thank you! I’ve made my peace with it. I just need to wait. Something interesting did pop up on day 20. It’s almost like white hair particles but attached to the live rock. They almost have a plasma appearance. Any thoughts? I’ll include a pictures
Bad picture but that white hair, but almost more