12-28-2009, 09:22 AM
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#54 |
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Originally Posted by bettababy  This early on I would be testing for ammonia and nitrite, its a bit early to expect nitrate readings. I don't see any listing for those in the first 2 wks... how high the ammonia goes will give you an idea of how high the nitrite and nitrate can be expected to go, along with watching as the steps of break down work through the cycle. Knowing if ammonia or nitrite is present along with or instead of the others is also important.
Everything else looks good. I would watch the calcium, as it appears to be fluctuating. If it goes too low you will want to begin adding liquid calcium to get it back to a safe range, and also to investigate what is depleting the calcium, which is sometimes detectable and even fixable. The animals going into the tank will utilize calcium, so its good that you are monitoring that closely, and I always suggest anyone watch calcium levels closely long term for that reason.
Keep up the good work! | Hi Bettababy,
Thanks for the info on that -- I've dosed the tank with liquid calcium after I did a test, but didn't retest yet.
I've added about 8 Astraea snails, I got them at an astronomically low price of 5.99
eating up diatom as we speak. I have extra shells in the tank so that the hermits won't bother my snails.
Right now my only gripe is that my protein skimmer isn't skimming like I want it to, the inner tube is dark with skimmate, but the cup fills with a lot of precipitation from the tank's cover. there's some green stuff that is in the cup, but I doubt that's from the foam. It hasn't given me much results. I've began to adjust though, by raising the foam little by little day by day. then again, I have no fish -- so I don't know what to expect.
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