New 55 gallon tank, almost finished cycling?

[JayFiveAlive]

I have a 55 gallon tank set up with currently 5 fish in there.. some mollies, a gold gourami, and a halfmoon betta.

At first Ammonia shot through the roof, did some water changes and finally got nitrites raising. Ammonia dropped to 0 and has been at 0 for about 2 weeks. Nitrites went through the roof, probably like 4 -5ppm. My nitrates finally boomed and seem to stay around 80ppm at the moment. Did a 20% water change yesterday and checked levels today and they are at the same.

How long will it take for my nitrites to get undercontrol? Should I do water changes every other day or so, or do I wait and let things try to stabilize on their own? (does doing water changes delay the process?)

 

[calioutlaw1a]

What is your current nitrite level? If your nitrates are at 80ppm, I would guess your nitrites are 0ppm or close to it.

Nitrates at 80ppm can harm fish as well. You should be doing daily water changes as long as there is nitrite present to keep it at 0ppm, and to keep nitrates low. You should also be using a water conditioner during each water changes that binds and detoxifies nitrite such as SeaChem Prime.
Water changes will not delay your cycling process.

 

[JayFiveAlive]

My nitrites are at 4-5ppm right now

I will prepare some more water for a water change tomorrow. I usually let water sit out for 24 hours to reduce the chemicals in it. I use Tetra AquaSafe Plus Water Conditioner each time, as well as add aquarium salt.

Damn nitrites!

My pH is 7.5, my temp is 78-79 degrees. I have like 8 live plants in my tank too.

 

[JayFiveAlive]

Oh, since i am using Tetra AquaSafe Plus Water Conditioner, is it still good to let water sit for at least 24 hours, or would I be fine doing the water changes immediately since supposedly that stuff works "immediately" ?