Starting fresh.

[mcordelia]

That's great to hear!! Glad things are starting to shape up in cycling land for you, impressed that you are already seeing nitrites,fantastic news!

Happy to hear that things are going well

 

[magical trevor]

Well been having a tinker with the tank today. Done a water test to check parameters. They were as follows

pH- between 7.2 and 7.6 so it is going down which is good.

Ammonia - 0.0 ppm
Nitrites - 0.5 ppm so water change necessary
Nitrates - 5.0ppm

So had a 25% water change and retested my nitrites and nitrates

Nitrites- 0.25ppm
Nitrates -5.0 ppm

So I'll have another water change tomorrow as I don't have time due to the filter system as it comes in at a trickle takes hours to refill from 25%.

My crypts are melting, which isn't unexpected but they seem to have new growth on a few so that's a good sign the hairgrass is starting to put root runners onto the gravel which is equally a good sign that they are getting "enough" light.
So the API fertilizer seems to be working but when I need to add 40ml every time I dose I'll go through bottles quickly which will be costly.

Cardinals out exploring just need some tank mates.