Cycling tank

[HayleYoyo]

Hey everyone,
I am fishless cycling a tank, and everything was going well. Then out of nowhere, it stalled
The ammonia was going down to 0 within two days, but then it stopped going passed .5 ppm
My nitrates are really high, could that be the problem?

[Plants245]

What is your pH?

The nitrification cycle releases Hydrogen ions which will lower pH ... if it's too low, then bacteria won't work as well.

[HayleYoyo]

Yup.

Had the exact same problem.

High nitrates stall a cycle. Do a twenty percent water change daily until it starts again.

[HayleYoyo]

Update: it was high nitrates. I did small water changes daily until it came down, then added ammonia and continued as normal