Thanks for the concern about my ammonia, but I am quite confidant that my tank is just taking its sweet time since I started out on the safe side (afraid of a deadly ammonia spike!) And since I didn't start out with any borrowed rocks etc..
Here's the history of my 29
gal so far:
Week 1-2: 5 Zebra danios.
After 2 weeks everything reads 0 except my pH which dropped from 7 to 6.5
(
FYI I tested every other day. )Added some pH Up a tiny bit each day and brought the pH back to 7 where it has been fairly steady. Did it slowly so I didn't shock teh fish.
After 2 weeks with the Zebras I realize that the little guys are going to take forever to pollute the 29
gal, so I pick up two micky mouse platties.
After week 3: I am finally getting some ammonia (0.25
ppm) There are some diatoms showning up now.
After week 4: ammonia is still around 0.25
ppm and there are more diatoms which the platties liek to eat. fish are showing no signs of stress.
Nitrite =0, Nitrates = 0
I have been feeding them once a day. I have added about 2 gallons due to evaporative losses. No water changes.