Cycling 20gal freshwater tank

Hi , I just started viewing your web site in search of info about cycling freshwater tanks.Very good article on the subject.
My 20 gallon tank just recently has nitrite reading as well as nitrates 5ppm on both and I am adding 4-5 ppm of ammonia 2x a day to keep levels up .Ammonia is dropping back to .5ppm before I add more.I just started getting nitrite reading a week ago.I also added Tetra Safestart 2weeks ago.My question is how much longer do you think it will take to see the nitrite levels starting to drop down also?
Have you heard about a product named Atm Colony ? I was going to try this before I started getting Nitrite reading which took about 3weeks to get any readings.
Thanks.

Never heard of atm colony. There are more than a few rebranded products of the same origin out there along with a bunch of bogus products. If you are in need of a seeding product for fishless cycling, stick with what's proven working. Tetra Safestart is one of the proven working products for cycling a fish tank.

You don't have to add 4~5ppm of ammonia twice a day. Once a day is enough. By adding ammonia twice a day, you are creating a lot of nitrite.

It can be as few as a few days to as long as a few weeks before you see nitrite start dropping.

Hi justintime, welcome to the forum.
It is hard to tell exactly time required to complete the fishless cycling or the time required in each stage of the fishless cycling due to the simple fact that there are too many variables such as water temperature, oxygen level, filter efficiency, etc. I could give you a wild estimation. It can take anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks or more from the moment you see nitrite increasing to the moment you see the nitrite dropping.

One thing I can tell you is that once nitrite start to drop (while you are still adding ammonia on daily basis), it means you are near the end of the cycling. Once you no longer get any nitrite or ammonia readings, the cycling is done.

You are welcomed to ask the questions on the forum. Smile