30ltr Biorb Update

[pauline]

hi just like to say a big thankyou to you all for helping me get this far! the orb is doing great. been testing water every day for 4 weeks its become part of my life! i still have my 4 neon tetras which is a miracle from what you told me about them preferring a mature tank but ive worked extremely hard to keep them. my tank was fully cycled 1 week ago. all readings at 0 for a full week.( i used mature media at the start to seed the new).i have now added 4 harlequin rasboras as of friday. my readings are:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
these have been my readings since friday when i added the new fish. im still testing 3 times a day. please could anyone tell me if my nitrate reading is ok at this? ive not done any water changes since friday evening when my ammonia crept to 25 after adding the new fish as i expected but has now settled back to 0. thanks

 

[arobinson1984]

Your nitrates are great at that level

Research has shown that many species of fish are fine in nitrate readings beyond 100ppm but a general consensus is to keep the levels below around 40ppm by doing weekly water changes.

Live plants will help lower the nitrates naturally.

Andy

 

[pauline]

Your nitrates are great at that level

Research has shown that many species of fish are fine in nitrate readings beyond 100ppm but a general consensus is to keep the levels below around 40ppm by doing weekly water changes.

Live plants will help lower the nitrates naturally.

Andy

thanks so much andy i feel great now! i put a real plant in along with the fish but i dont think its doing very well due to the terrible halogen light that comes with the orb im going to try and get an led light which is much brighter?
is it safe to assume that my cycle is now complete? ill still be doing the testing every day regardless but itl help me relax a little if i know im on the right path thanks. P