Fishless cycle, ammonia processing FAST

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Kaiiak

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Hi all! I’m on day 33 of a fishless cycle for a 50 gal tank, sand substrate, aquarium decor/fake plant, canister filter. My ammonia is processing so fast it’s as if I’m not even adding it, every day when I measure it’s btw 0-.25 ppm even when I just added it the day before. Nitrites 2-5 ppm super bright purple (API test kit) have remained this way for awhile & nitrates for some odd reason went up to 10-20 ppm (for one day) and have gone down to 1-5 ppm - may have been a testing fluke - yes I follow instructions (shaking second bottle of nitrate solution thirty seconds, shaking vile one min, waiting five mins before reading). At this point do I STOP adding ammonia? How much should I be adding? I have currently performed ZERO WATER CHANGES, should I preform water changes? If so, what percent?

...I feel like I’m nearing the end of the cycle. Let me know what you think/advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
 
You're getting there in your cycle. A tank is considered cycled if you add 1ppm ammonia and it is completely converted to nitrates within 24 hours leaving you with no ammonia and no nitrites. The fact that you have a high concentration of nitrites indicates that that second level of bacteria isn't quite there yet. You don't need to be doing any water changes really until the cycle is done before you put your critters in. Keep monitoring your levels, you're almost there.
 
So I should continue to add ammonia? Thanks for your help!
 
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