Fishless cycling – 75 gallon

[aquamileParticipant]

Hi,

I’m doing a fishless cycle on a 75 gallon tank & had a question about the nitrite stage of the cycle.

Tank info:

75 gallon, Fluval 406 & Fluval 206 canister filters, two Eheim 200 watt heaters, two 8″ bubble wands, medium pebble substrate.  No plants or fish. Tank temperature during cycling: 88 degrees F.

I’m about 19 days into cycling and am dosing the tank with pure ammonia daily.  About 4 ppm declines to 0 ppm in less than 24 hours. My nitrites are off the charts high – using an API kit, the water turns purple before I even shake the tube.  Nitrates are between 5.0 ppm and 10.0 ppm.  The nitrites have been spiked for about 8 days now.

Is there anything I need to do at this point to get the nitrites to come down?  It seems to be taking a long time – or am I just being impatient?

 

Thanks!

 

[Author]

Posts