help with cycle

Question
stephanie , i have a question about my 20. gal aquarium. it is in the 3rd. week of cycle. my water tests have been pretty desent till now. i was getting 0 ammonia- .50 nitrite and .25 nitrate. my ammonia stayed at zero for about a week. for the last 5 days my nitrite has been:
.50 8/27
8/28 .25 - morning
8/28 .50 - night
2.0 -8/29 - morning  [did 25% water change]
1.0 -8/29 - night
5.0 -8/30 - morning  [ did 25% water change]
1.0 8/30- after water change
5.0 8/30 afternoon  [ did almost 50% water change]
after water change 0
is this normal for the cycle progress. how much longer will this nitrite lever go on ?
i have put 4 mollies and 1 guppy and 2 catfish in the tank. i use prime. i also use stress coat and stress zyme. i hope you can help. i think this is causing me as much stress as it is to my fish. the water tests were great when i started adding them in. i tested my water before i added it. it to the tank and it was 0.i have 2 java ferns and use a whisper filter. thanks for any help you can give me. fishlover

Answer
Hello,

Yes, nitrite levels fluctuating like this is very normal in cycling tanks, especially with the amount of fish in your aquarium. It is probably not too many fish off the start, but the more fish there is, the more waste there is.

Continue doing what you've been doing. Be careful not to change too much water at once though.Try sticking to a maximum of 25% water changes, and don't change it more then once per day. Results won't happen overnight in this difficult cycling period.

A great product to use when cycling your tank is Cycle. It works wonders and should be added every time you add new water to your tank. You should also continue to use your stress coat and stress zyme, but instead of Prime I would say you should try Cycle. Not only does is hurry along your nitrite cycle, but it adds beneficial bacteria.

I hope this helps.

Good-luck,
From Stephanie