How much longer and are we on the right track

So we started a 9 gal tank 3 weeks ago. We are doing a fishless cycle and have regularly been adding ammonia to keep the amount around 4-5ppm and monitoring the nitrites and nitrates. We have the API freshwater master test kit.
Today our ammonia was reading around 1ppm nitrite 5ppm and nitrate at 20-30ppm(darker than 20 not as dark as 40). We are obviously on our way to a cycled tank however I'm wondering approx how long it will take more? If we are at 1 ppm in ammonia should I add more again? Will we really just show 0 ammonia and nitrites overnight one day and then do a water change and be ready to go as I've read on many forum posts already? Just wondering how I'll know we are good to go. My readings seem quite high. See image for colors (not quite the same on the camera as in person)

Thanks!

You are adding way too much ammonia and will eventually crash the cycle. With this much ammonia being added. It will also take longer, not just because of the inevitable crash, but also due to the excessive amount of nitrite that will be produced.

I'd recommend following our cycling directions here, after doing a large water change to drop the nitrite levels down.

A normal cycle averages about 6 weeks, so you are at about the halfway point. After the water change, add enough ammonia to put 3ppm ammonia in the tank, then WAIT.

From that point, you'd probably be in 'snack dose' mode, every 3 or 4 days.

So I read the link and it makes sense however how do I get it down when my ammonia is already low. Won't a water change get rid of ammonia and nitrates?im assuming with a water change it will help slow the system down to stabilize?

Yes the water change would lower the ammonia and nitrate. The nitrate doesn't matter... it's there just to show that the cycle is happening, nothing more. More importantly, in the long run nitrates need to be held as low as possible.


And yes, it would lower ammonia as well. But, that is easily remedied... just add a bit more to bring it back to 3ppm. The biggest concern is the nitrites getting way way too high and causing it all to stall. If the nitrite gets too high, it can actually stop the entire process... and that happens around 15-16 ppm, which won't show up on the test kit.

(1 ppm ammonia on the test kit will convert over to 2.7 ppm nitrite. So, if you have 10 ppm ammonia added to the tank, cumulatively, you could end up with 27 ppm nitrite if none of it converts... more importantly, if at least 10 ppm nitrite doesn't convert over, you run the very serious risk of a major stall.)

The way we describe the method keeps the nitrite from being able to get up too high. Ultimately, that's one of the biggest concerns we have in the cycling process.


So, I recommend the water change to lower the nitrite. Lowering the nitrate also isn't a big deal, at all. We need the nitrate low no matter what, and water changes are the only way to do that. The water change will lower the ammonia as well, but that can easily be remedied with just a bit of an addition. You'll end up using far less ammonia in the long run with the method we have laid out than the method you are currently using and it will take less time.

Just to add that with the nitrite tester, after the level gets above 5 it still shows as 5 with the tester. Your reading is 5 so it could be 5, or 10, or 15 or even 50. Because our testers can't measure above 5 we need to control the amount of nitrite being made by controlling the amount of ammonia we add.

That makes sense. Thanks. We have done two major water changes and now we are at around 2ppm nitrites and no ammonia. So I'll add enough ammonia to get it up to 3 then? My nitrates dropped from 40ppm to 5 as well.

Yup. And don't worry about the nitrate drop. Nitrate isn't really important for the cycle, its just the end product.