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Yes, we're all very glad to have fish. Thanks for the kudos, it feels great to have it working now. Unfortunately, we lost another lemon tetra today. He was swimming in circles, laying on the bottom, etc. I isolated him this morning and was researching what to do, but he didn't make it...

Thanks, Mike

A couple more...

As promised, some photos. The tank was designed mostly by my 10 year old daughter. Mike

Soon...

We definitely like the them. I just got back from the lfs to get some more. Unfortunately, we lost one of our Lemon Tetras this afternoon. Not sure what happened, but it was the smallest of the group and stayed pretty inactive since we got it. The truth is, when I originally went to the lfs...

I took all of your advice and started with tetras. Tuesday is a bad day to find stock around here, but I promised my daughter that was the day, so we had to go. I could only find 3 lemon tetras, and we decided while we were at the store to get bloodfin tetras as well. We started with three of...

Thanks. Mike

No, the bloodfins were not on the list. It was a last minute decision, but I think turned out to be a good one. They add a different dynamic than the lemons, more active, and yet get along well with the lemons. There's one lfs that should have some more lemons today, so I will probably pick up...

WE HAVE FISH!!!!! After some more research and suggestions in a thread I started about male vs. female gouramis, we decided to start with the lemon tetras. I promised my daughter we would get fish today, but, unfortunately, most of the stores around here get their fish on Wednesday, so...

Great info. Thanks. Mike

That makes sense. We'll adjust our plan. Thanks, Mike

I've read mixed opinions on having two in a this size tank. I appreciate your comments and based on them, we will likely get only one. In the coming weeks we'll be adding other fish - is it OK to add the gourami first? Thanks, Mike

We're ready to stock our newly cycled 20 Gal long aquarium. This is our first aquarium. The plan is: 2 dwarf gourami 6 lemon tetra 6 celestial pearl danio (if we can find them) 1 albino long fin bristlenose pleco We want to go slowly, so we're starting with the gourami. Should we get a male...

Great info. I thought we'd start slow just to see how it goes, but a trip to the lfs may change our minds!! In any event, we're excited - my daughter can hardly believe it's true - we can actually get fish now! I want to thank you for all of the help so far. You have really made our issues so...

We picked up some distilled water today and made some more measurements. Distilled water ammonia - 0.1 ppm Spring water ammonia - 0.1 ppm Tap water ammonia - 1.0 ppm So it looks like we're probably cycled (woohoo!!). The only common element in our testing is the test tube, which is always...

I do recall some ammonia in my tap water, but I don't remember the amount (I didn't log it). I'll measure it again. Mike

I will still check distilled, but I agree it looks like we are there!! The fact that ammonia goes from 4 ppm to 0.1 ppm in 24 hrs. suggests that something right is happening. Of course, I'd like to know why I can't get a zero reading, though. Do you think it's something with my test liquids...

I only have spring water at the house right now, which gives me the same ammonia reading as our tank water - looks to be about 0.1 ppm, maybe 0.15 ppm. I'll also pick up some distilled water and see if it's the same. The attached image is a spring water sample. Mike

Yes, 0.1 ppm, not 1.0 ppm. So close but not yellow. We've checked most of our readings in various types of light, trying to be as accurate as possible. Distilled water is a great idea. I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks, Mike

Things seem to be going very well, except that ammonia will only drop to about 0.1 ppm each day. I've been dosing to about 4 ppm. Tonight I only put a half a dose in to see what happens tomorrow. I have not measured pH for a while, but I did tonight. Previous readings have been very steady...

Ammonia has been coming down to 0.25 each day and I've dosed it back up to 4 ppm. Nitrites and nitrates have been very high (top of the scale) and tonight, ammonia only came down to about 1 ppm. So I did a nearly full water change to get the nitrite and nitrate readable again. I measured right...

Done. Thanks. Mike

Ammonia stayed at 4 ppm Monday. Frustrated, and not looking forward to trying a new water source, I ended up ignoring the tank for the last couple days. I checked ammonia tonight (Thursday) and it was down to .25 ppm. Encouraged, I checked nitrites and nitrates and got 5 ppm and 40 ppm...

Well, depression is starting to set in. :banghead: Ammonia came up to 4ppm about an hour after dosing yesterday. Unfortunately, today (about 28 hours later) it's still at 4 ppm. Nitrates are still at 20 ppm or a little more. I guess we're going to have to try a new water source. Mike