Nitrites not showing up after 2 months???

[theresakad]

I started a 55gal freshwater tank and have been waiting for the tank to cycle. I have 6 tiger barbs in the tank. The ammonia has been reading about 1.5 for about a month. Nitrites are at zero and have been. Don't I need the nitrites to show up then go back to zero for the tank to be fully cycled?
I haven't been doing water changes until about a week ago. Now the ammonia is at about .25. Am I doing something wrong? Please any advice would be greatly apprecitated. This cycle is taking forever.
I had started with a 10 gal tank and it cycled like clock work.
ugh! Can't wait to add more fish!

thanks

[logans]

Originally Posted by theresakad

I started a 55gal freshwater tank and have been waiting for the tank to cycle. I have 6 tiger barbs in the tank. The ammonia has been reading about 1.5 for about a month. Nitrites are at zero and have been. Don't I need the nitrites to show up then go back to zero for the tank to be fully cycled?
I haven't been doing water changes until about a week ago. Now the ammonia is at about .25. Am I doing something wrong? Please any advice would be greatly apprecitated. This cycle is taking forever.
I had started with a 10 gal tank and it cycled like clock work.
ugh! Can't wait to add more fish!

thanks

I am fairly new at this myself so I may be off base here so someone more experienced can correct me if I am wrong. But my guess is that with only 6 fish in a 55 gallon tank it is taking much longer for the ammonia to spike which will then be followed by nitrites. In other words not enough pollution from the fish going on to create the nitrifying bacteria. I started a 29 gallon tank a little over 2 months ago. I slowly added fish over the 2 months starting with just 2 then a 3rd then a couple more and I worked my way up to 12 fish. It was about 1 1/2 months in that I started to get a big nitrite spike which I reallly had a hard time getting to go down. I kept doing water changes to keep the levels safe then finally they were gone afte about 10 days or so.

Have you looked into getting bio spira? From what I have read its bacteria you can add to the tank that will help the tank cycle much faster and make the tank safe for the fish within 24 hours.

---Mike

[theresakad]

I have not heard about bio spira. I will look into that. Thanks Mike.
I also thought I shouldn't add more fish until the tank is cycled. But I have been told by more than one person, to add more fish. So that is what I am going to do. I just don't want to lose anyfish.
I had a plan when I started my tank.
I was going to start with Tiger barbs then after the tank cycled I wanted to add these fish:
Danios
Rainbows
Gourmais
and a red tail shark,
my problem was how many of each
and now that I need to add more fish now, which ones can I add that will be ok with the tank cycling

I am sorry that was a really long winded question, forgive me.

-t

[Sprite42]

How big are your tigers? I think you could safely add 4 or 5 more fish. Tiger barbs will get to be about 2 to 3 inches in size and with that many, the aggression of these fish will probably be kep amoung themselves. There are different varieties of tigers, the green and the albino, along with the striped (same fish, just different colors). They do make for a busy tank. I do not know how well they handle the cycling process, though. I have never cycled with them.

If you have another tank that is established, you may be able to help your cycle along with some filter media or some gravel from that tank after you add the other fish.

[theresakad]

I used tiger barbs to cycle my first tank (10gal) and they worked out great. I took my fish from my 10 gal and put them in the 55gal with some other tiger barbs.They are great fish. They are aggresive but they are fun to watch. I had two rhombo barbs from my 10 gal that I added to the 55gal. They all get along great.
I can put my filter from hob from the 10 gal into the 55gal hob filter?????

[emc7]

can put my filter from hob from the 10 gal into the 55gal hob filter?????

Sure, don't take out the media from the 55 filter, just add the filter media or a piece of it from the 10. It won't cycle the 55 instantly, but seeding the new filter should speed it up immensely.

[TheOldSalt]

The big question here is actually "do you have any nitrate yet?"

You might be getting rid of your nitrite as soon as you make it if you have nitrate.

[Georgia Peach]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

The big question here is actually "do you have any nitrate yet?"

You might be getting rid of your nitrite as soon as you make it if you have nitrate.

you beat me to it!

[theresakad]

I don't know, I only have a nitrite test kit, i guess I better get a nitrate test kit.

You might be getting rid of your nitrite as soon as you make it if you have nitrate.

if the above is true, how do remedy that?