55 gallon tank
Emperor 280 and Aqueon 325 filters with extra biomedia
Emperor filter up for approx. 6 weeks (on old tank), new tank up for 3 weeks
4 fish -- 3 small (2-3 inches), one medium (4-5 inches)
pH 8.2
KH 350+

Okay, I am officially impatient with my cycle. I have been getting strong nitrites in my water for over 3 weeks. The problem is that my nitrates just don't seem to be coming along. They stay at about 5.0 most of the time, except for days after large water changes, when they are zero. Do I just need to hold tight and continue to change water, or could there be something about my tap water or my set-up that is preventing the second batch of BBs from maturing?

Everything looks like it should be okay. Your KH is very high - but that shouldn't keep it from cycling.
I guess you'll just have to try and be patient a little longer. The nitrobacter bacteria are finicky and sometimes take a while to develop.
My tank finally cycled when I was at the point of giving up and starting over again... so maybe you're almost there.
What's the temp of the water?

Debbie

my 55 took FOREVER!!!!!..and my nitrites was my battle also ...hang in there ..you will wake up one morning and it will be less and less ..Nitrites is by far the longest stage of the cycle ...your kh is like mine ...I thought I was going to use up the whole bottle of drops for one test ..I finally added lots of biomedia to stuff in my filters..and took out the carb.so I could make more grounds for the bb's...a cycle taking 6-8 weeks is not unheard of ...so be patient ..it's like watching water trying to boil!!

The water temp is about 76. If anything, I was expecting my relatively warm water to speed things along with my cycle.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll just hold tight and continue to wait!

Wow your KH is high!

Yeah, 3 weeks is not unreasonable. It can be a lot longer. At some point you *could* consider some kind of product that has cycle bacteria in it that you can add to the water, but I don't think you're at all there yet.

Hang in there... and could you maybe pass some of your KH this way?