cycle question

[chicago]

Ok I've been cycling a 55gal tank with two clown fish and two damsels, I have cc and no lr. I know you're supposed to be patient with this process but its been running for two months now and I have 0 ammonia but my nitrites are at 1, they've been at 1 and haven't dropped the last 3 weeks. I keep hearing that your cycle is not done until your nitrites read 0. I've already had diatoms come and go and the fish look really happy but when will my cycle be done?

 

[jacksonpt]

When you say it's at 1, is that 1ppm? If so, I suspect your cycle is done. Before I tore my 75 down, my trates were steady at about 12ppm with cc. CC and any type of bioload will make it very hard to get trates to 0, especially with no LR.

 

[sal t. nutz]

He said Nitrites, not Nitrates. I would think that Nitrites still being there would be bad. Do you have anything for Bacteria to grow on? I notice you don't have sand, and no LR. Do you have a sump or a canister, and what do you use for bio media in these? I think the bacteria that converts Nitrites needs something to grow on.

 

[jacksonpt]

ooh, good catch... guess I misread that one.
Disregard my previous post.
Chicago... what are you using for filtration and water current? I used an undergravel filter and 4 powerheads with my cc. My tank cycled in about 4 weeks with 8 damsels. Like I said... I could never get my trates below 10ppm, but everything else was always 0.

 

[chicago]

I have a wet dry trickle filter and two power heads but no canister or sump, is this the problem?

 

[sal t. nutz]

In your wet/dry, are the bioballs getting covered with bacteria? What is the flow rate of your return pump, maybe you aren't moving enough water.

 

[salvatore]

We're also on month two of the cycle...patience is the hardest part I think.
We had a wet/dry trickle filter initially; after researching for a while it was quickly converted to a refugium. We also added a DSB during the cycle; both things prolonged the cycle length.
The last water test was a week ago and nitrites showed 0.25ppm. I expect them to disappear completely very soon.