tribalturtle
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi all - I just started cycling my tank.
I have a 29G tank with a Fluval 206 filter. I was able to seed the filter and also put some more into the tank itself (essentially 2 cupfulls of biomedia).
I put a shrimp in as the ammonia source (on Saturday March 16) because I actually have to leave in a couple of days for about 6 days. My family will be home to remove the shrimp if it starts to stink, and can put a new shrimp in if necessary. I may be able to get my wife to check the parameters, but it will be tough to communicate with her and help her since I will be out of the country.
The last two days, these have been my numbers (for both days):
pH 7.6/ammonia 1.0/nitrite 0.0/nitrate 0-5 ppm
I'm thinking this means we just got started on the cycle but I'm a little confused why the nitrite is 0.0 and the nitrate seemed to go up a bit.
I'm wondering now whether I should have just waited until I came back from my trip. That being said, my kids really wanted me to get started. Any advice?
I have a 29G tank with a Fluval 206 filter. I was able to seed the filter and also put some more into the tank itself (essentially 2 cupfulls of biomedia).
I put a shrimp in as the ammonia source (on Saturday March 16) because I actually have to leave in a couple of days for about 6 days. My family will be home to remove the shrimp if it starts to stink, and can put a new shrimp in if necessary. I may be able to get my wife to check the parameters, but it will be tough to communicate with her and help her since I will be out of the country.
The last two days, these have been my numbers (for both days):
pH 7.6/ammonia 1.0/nitrite 0.0/nitrate 0-5 ppm
I'm thinking this means we just got started on the cycle but I'm a little confused why the nitrite is 0.0 and the nitrate seemed to go up a bit.
I'm wondering now whether I should have just waited until I came back from my trip. That being said, my kids really wanted me to get started. Any advice?