Nitrites but no Ammonia?

[Aquascaper]

Hi guys,

I've had my tank running for 14 days now and for the first 7 days just used a treatment called 'Cycle' each day (which helps promote bacteria growth) and a little pinch of flake food. While doing this the levels have all been Zero apart from the Ammonia which has crept up to a maximum of 2ppm - 3ppm (pH has stayed neutral throughout).
On day 8 i took some filter medium from my other established tank and put it into my filter (i have a chamber type filter with a weir system) and the Ammonia gradually went down to 0ppm over 6 days.
Yesterday (day 13) i put 5 Leopard danios into the tank and tested the water and again the results were all zero and pH neutral. Today i tested the tank and i have a Nitrite spike of 5ppm.

Does this mean the tank is ok and cycling properly? I have read the other forums and know the Nitrogen Cycle, Ammonia - Nitrite - Nitrate, but this seems to be happening a little fast.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[Bol]

Sounds like it's going fine to me. Although results can vary, I've found that using filter media and/or other surfaces from an established tank can really speed things up. In fact, the last tank I started up with "helper" items from an established tank has never shown any detectable ammonia or nitrites, and it's in week 8 with a full fish load now. But, that was probably pretty lucky.

I would, however, suggest doing a water change (or, more likely, a series of changes) to bring the nitrites down to a reasonable level (at least below 2ppm, preferrably below 1ppm).

 

[Aquascaper]

Thanks for the advice/reassurance

Was a bit worried that it was going too fast but everyone in the tank seems nice and happy so i'll stick to water changes and keep an eye on things.

 

[Aquascaper]

Just an update for anyone interested......

Tests are all coming back with zero Ammonia and falling Nitrites and a little bit of Nitrate.

All this after only 14 days! I used a product called 'Cycle' to seed the filter and gravel with bacteria and also squeezed the filter out of my other tank into the filter chamber. Nothing more.

Hope any of this helps someone