Nitrite spike going on for almost two weeks now

[chris40oz77]

Is there anything out there that will help speed up the production of nitrite eating bacteria? My nitrite levels have been spiked for well over a week and haven't come down.

Or do I need to just be patient? :(

[Lady Hobbs]

Sounds about right, honestly. The nitrite eating bacteria takes longer than the ammonia eating bac. I think it will be dropping any time for you tho and will drop suddenly and then it's a done deal. Two weeks would be about normal....sometimes even 3.

[zackish]

Mine were spiked for 2 weeks, I did my water change, thought they were done and then went through a mini-cycle for about a week.
I would say you are right on track.

[digger]

just be patient it will sort it self out

[chris40oz77]

Thanks for the replies!

I'll keep testing the water and just be patient. To be honest, my wife is the impatient one... She's tired of having a tank with no fish :sbiggrin:

[Lady Hobbs]

Tell your lady that it's tiring to watch fish die, too. :)

BTW.....continue adding a bit of ammonia to the tank each day so you aren't killing off that bacteria. It will disappear in hours but keep it alive.

[zackish]

Thanks for the replies!

I'll keep testing the water and just be patient. To be honest, my wife is the impatient one... She's tired of having a tank with no fish :sbiggrin:

That's how my mom was when I was cycling my tank. It smelt ungodly too because I used the shrimp method of cycling my tank.