Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a 29 gallon, 2.5wattper gallon, 80 percent plant load, I add flourish excel,alot of elodea, java moss, 2 big swords and other small plants. It's been about thirty days of cycling but before that I had a 10 gallon with some of the plants and fish in it cycling for about 3 or 4 wks.
Ammonia has always tested zero. NItrite has usually been on the high side. In fact the last couple weeks its been hovering at 1ppm. I cant seem to bring it down. I am confused to whether plants take in nitrites readily or not. I know they take ammonia for sure. I also added biospira but it didnt seem to do anything. I have about 11in of fish per 29 gallon. Is this just regular cycling happening slower because there are plenty of plants? Is there anyway to reduce it quicker then anything I have tried?

Nitrites are actually toxic to most plants (at least that's what I learned in Plant Biology), they do need ammmonia though you are right about that. Your tank sounds like it's about to be completely cycled maybe in a couple weeks. It typically takes 4-6 weeks for a tank to cycle. There is an ammonia spike, then once that levels off your nitrites are next. So it sounds to me your tank is just waiting for a full set of nitrobacter (the bacteria that convert nitrites to nitrates which is less toxic to plants) population. Keep an eye on it, and if it still doesn't go down in a couple of weeks just let me know and we'll go from there.
Does this help?
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Yeah that helps. Thanks. I'm probably just being a little impatient. Actually today I noticed my nitrites went down from 1ppm to .50, so hopefully it will decrease dramatically from there. I do have another question though if you don’t mind. I read somewhere that feeding vegetables like peas, cucumber and lettuce will reduce nitrogenous chemicals. I have been doing this for a few days now. My question is that if you reduce the amount of nitrogen going into the tank wont that hurt the bacteria that need it to live? The more important question is where do you find that balance between nitrogenous chemicals and bacteria? I assume a lot of ammonia could possibly kill bacteria off by creating an anaerobic situation. Right now I just feed sparingly and some veggies but will this really help cycle faster or does it just slow it down? Thank you for any help you might have to offer!

Boy, I'm not used to these questions... ones that involve looking things up in my notes from class and using my brain. hehe. I love it.
So, I've never heard of veggies reducing nitrogenous chemicals. I do know that guppies and goldfish love lettuce, and my betta used to eat peas (she's no longer with us). I don't think the veggies had anything to do with your nitrites going down - could just be coincidental. The bacteria in your tank are pretty flexible for near optimal conditions, as far as I know. The reason why your tank cycles though is because you add fish and the bacteria aren't used to that amount so they reproduce (as far as I know) to make more of themselves to help digest the materials (ammonia, nitrites, etc.)
You're doing just fine on your cycling. I would let it be with changing things all the time for right now until your levels are just right. Otherwise you risk messing the cycling process up (some things can make the cycling process actually longer).
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Haha, No problem. I’m full of those kinds of questions! My nitrites dropped again down to .25 ppm so I’m pretty excited. Looks like in about a week or so it should be fully cycled. I noticed that since it started dropping it has been doing it consistently. Thanks for your help!

No problem. Sounds like everything is under control.

We're always her if you need any help.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."