Help!! My tank won't cycle

[SherriSixxx]

Hey,i t's me again. Thanks again for most of the replies. My ammonia been behaving perfectly. If I put enough in to make it 3, it will have dropped off to 0 or 0,25 by the next evening. This has been the case for nearly 2 weeks now, However my nitrate and nitrite are so high, they are well off the charts, so I can't tell how much they are. How long does it ususally take for them to start dropping?
Sorry to sound bit silly and impatient, just curious to know when approximately I can finally get my fish.

Many thanks in advance. No rude replies please, we are all silly beginners tostart with. Rome wasn't build in a day, right?

Looking forward to your helpful replies.Many thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

NitrItes are consumed by a different bacterium than Ammonia/um. It will take another week to 2 weeks before those bacteria grow enough to process the NitrIte. Keep cycling like you're doing to keep the ammonia bacteria alive, and keep monitoring the nitrIte levels. when those start dropping your cycle will be complete. btw, when you say off the chart, what exactly are the limits of your testkit and how old are the chemicals that you're using to test with? most have shelf lives not greater than 6 months to a year...

as far as nitrAtes go I was a little confused reading through your posts. have you tested your tap water for nitrates? if so what was the value therein. tap water in some localities contains nitrAtes by itself thus making water changes an ineffective method for lowering nitrAtes as is the typical suggestion. nitrates are not generally toxic to fish, and aside from water changes the only way to rid yourself of them is through live plants which use nitrate to help them grow. again, you said your values were off the chart... whats the chart limit and how old are the test chemicals?

 

[SherriSixxx]

Am using test strips to check on nitrite and nitrate levels. Will check their maximum tonight when I get home. They are definatly not out of date, as I only bought them just over a month ago.

Should I do a small waterchange, or leave everything as it is? The nitrate in my tapwater is 25, and I also have some live plants in the tank, which are doing ok. The water seems to be getting a bit yucky without water changes...and I have lots of algae. Have been cleaning it off approx once a week.

 

[SherriSixxx]

Ok, have details of my test kit now. It goes up to 10 and 250 for nitrite and nitrate, but mine are so much above those, I haven't the slightest idea how much they could be. Should I change the water or just leave it and wait more...?