Cyling tank, Nitrites being stubbon

[DEL 707]

Really wish I kept a diary of this stuff, but I'll do my best to post all the info I have.

I setup a 56l tank on the 14th of July.

I started out with just 7-8kg of dry rock and live sand. I added some Evolution Aqua "Pure Reef Balance" bacteria balls and started dosing Dr Tims ammonia solution.
Over time ammonia slowly went down and nitrites went up. The problem is nitrites refused to come down.
I have a redsea and Salifert nitrite test kits. Redsea only goes up to 1ppm and the salifert only goes up to 4ppm. My test results were showing 4ppm.
Dr Tims instructions say that if nitrite goes above 5ppm, that you need to do a big water change.
25th of July I did a 30l water change to get my nitrites down. I also added a Fluval 107 canister filter to the tank, removed some sponges and added Seachem Matrix biomedia.

With Nitrites down, I dosed Dr Tims again.
Ammonia went down pretty quickly but nitrites shot off the chart again.
On Tuesday this week, 30th July, I did another 30l water, added a bottle of Dr Tims "One and Only" and dosed more ammonia.

Today, ammonia is sitting about 0.2-0.4ppm and once again, nitrites are off the chart.

I'm not really sure what to do from here.
Do I do another water change?
Or do I wait for nitrites to come down, even if it means ammonia hitting 0?

 

[Spare time]

Nitrites are harmless and I would just pay attention to ammonia. Nitrite only is an issue in the cycle when there are utterly insane amounts that no one I have ever known has reached.

 

[kvansloo]

Don't add anything else let the cycle go Just test for Nitrates now and once nitrates get to 10-20ppm then do water change.

 

[Jekyl]

Agree with above. As long as ammonia is zero and nitrate is present the cycle is complete. Nitrite tests being sold for Saltwater is a cash grab imo.

 

[DEL 707]

I definitely have nitrates.

I'm terrible at reading these things, 20+?

 

[Jekyl]

I definitely have nitrates.

I'm terrible at reading these things, 20+?

You're done. Just do a good sized water change before adding fish. Quarantine system is also recommended.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Nitrates always take a lot longer to cycle

 

[Cell]

Nitrites are not harmful to marine animals at the levels we experience but they will inflate your nitrate test. You are safe to stock slowly if ammonia is being processed to 0 but don't bother testing nitrate until your nitrite drops.

 

[Dan_P]

I definitely have nitrates.

I'm terrible at reading these things, 20+?

Don’t bother measuring nitrate when nitrite is present because nitrite interferes with nitrate test, making it look like nitrate is high. Nitrite concentration can be slow to decline.

 

[PopBot16]

Sky-High NO2 can lead to false NO3 readings.