New to the fishless cycle

[hmslowes48]

Hey guys

Been surfing around on SD for quite some time now and am very impressed with everyone here so thank you so much. I am doing my first fishless cycle and had a question of the timeline of things. Here are some specifics

60 gallon
Sand substrate
Silk plants
Ph 8.0
Prime conditioner
Driftwood
Canister filter w/ Ehfimech rings, substrat pro, purigen
Temp 84F
NO FILTER MEDIA TO START OFF

Added ammonia up to 5 ppm and has slowly made its way to 2 ppm. Still have no traces of nitrites after 25 days...my question is do I need to continue to "sit and wait" or is there something I'm doing wrong in this whole process? Thank you for any and all input

[Trier20]

Is it still at 2 ppm?

[jimg]

should put the media in it is still surface area that the bb can grow on. I would skip the prime also for now. you should have seen nitrites if the ammonia went down. best fastest way is what you are doing plus dr tims or terta safe start or others that sponsors on here are selling. most times takes at least 6 weeks without them. add lots of air helps too

[ashtricks]

I did a fishless cycle too.... a few weeks back.... but I used ATM's "Colony" bacteria supplement. I did not add ammonia, but I added fish food everyday, a couple of flakes. The very next day I had a bacterial bloom and in a week my tank was cycled and ready for my fish. My pH was around 7.2. I don't know whether a pH of 8 is too high for the bacteria to prosper. Wiki gives all kinds of ranges of pH for optimal growth..... don't know what to trust....

[hmslowes48]

Yes the ppm is still at 2 ...it has been for a few days now ...that's why I'm not understanding why the nitrites aren't showing up ..patience is a virtue I was always told but this sure does try them at times!

[Trier20]

How old is your test kit? Might be expired? I'll do a fishless cycle on my tanks if I have time to do it.......most times I don't b/c I buy some fish without thinking it through. I always have a back up of safe start at home and have been trying to get in the habit of having extra cycled sponge filters sitting around.