librarygirl
Look It Up
No dramatic changes overnight and no casualties.
PH - 7.8 (Did PH High test)
Ammonia - 0.25
No2 (NitrIte) - 0 - 0.25 (Very slight purple tinge)
No3 (NitrAte) - 10
Will do a further PWC 50% tonight.
Should my NitrAte begin climbing from 10?
Once cycled will I still have to do PWC and how often, do you just test weekly and monitor Ammo and NitrIte?
Your nitrates are probably not rising much b/c of all the water changes, which is fine. You don't want to let them get above 20 with fish, 40 max.
Once the cycle is done you'll keep an eye on ammonia and nitrate, regularly at first then when you're sure they're staying at 0 you can check those once every couple of weeks (or anytime you add new fish). What you'll want to check weekly are nitrates; those are removed by weekly water changes to keep them below 20; they don't leave the tank any other way and letting them build can be toxic. Plus your fish will be using up nutrients in the water that a pwc will restore. You should also monitor PH too to make sure it stays steady as sudden fluctuations can be harmful to the fish.