Low-Tech 10g Planted Build

[Aquarium1]

I think my cycle started already (I saw a bacterial bloom after adding the fish food; still do). I'll test this afternoon and post my results.

 

[Aquarium1]

So I tested Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate and they all came up 0, so I'm thinking my test kit might be expired (which, it might be, I bought it last August). Great another expense -_- lol. I'll post some pics in a bit of how it looks now.

 

[mommytron]

i'm pretty sure the kits are good for 3 years. i could be wrong but i think i remember reading that in the papers it came with. it should last at least a year. when i used fish food, it took FOREVER for the ammonia to show up. i had to add in almost an entire handful all together to get it to read .5 (which was the reason i cleaned it all out and used pure ammonia instead!)

 

[Aquarium1]

This is if they are sealed and unopened
After opening they generally last 6 mo to one year

Anyway, you may be right. I'll wait a week before testing again lol.

 

[mommytron]

either way i'd suggest pure ammonia instead of fish food. the ammonia shows up immediately, it's much cleaner because there is nothing rotting in your tank, and it's much easier to dose up higher so you can add more fish at once, not to mention there is no way to really "dose" fish food accurately without tons of testing, because it takes so long for it to rot and produce ammonia. it's just much easier (and cleaner) IMO

 

[Aquarium1]

I don't know where to get a good bottle. I live in somewhat of a rural area, no local ace's lol. We do have a lowes, but I kinda doubt they have it.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Are you by a Meijer's? That's where I got mine, in the houselhould cleaners section: DSCF9153.jpg picture by xtwickx - Photobucket You could get some shrimp from the grocery store as well and put it in a mesh bag. Still messy (and probly smelly too lol) but I am guessing much more effective than fish food

My vote is pure ammonia all the way if you can it.

 

[Aquarium1]

the nearest meijer is a little less than an hour away, same for Ace. My mom might be heading to Lexington (where they are) some time, since she wanted to go to target. Maybe I can talk her into this weekend and to go to meijer since it's around target lol.

 

[mommytron]

are there any local hardware stores around you? that's where i got mine. just look for janitorial strength. mine just says pure ammonia 100% ammonia.

 

[Aquarium1]

Well there's one. I'll have to look. Hopefully they'll have one without surfactants.

 

[mommytron]

yup read the label really good and shake it to make sure there's no bubbles and all that junk. i bet you you'll find it no prob.

 

[Aquarium1]

Thanks. I'll just have to get someone to take me lol. I really need to clean up my computer lol, I can't even fit the pictures on here, I'm pretty much outta room lol.

 

[mommytron]

uh oh looks like it's time for a bigger hard drive!

i'm very lucky my daddy is a computer guy! it took him 6 months or so but he saved EVERYTHING on my busted hard drive, turned it into a slave drive so i could still use it for storage, then gave me another hard drive from one of his old desk tops. he also installed new fans with blue LEDs to match the LEDs in my case that my bro picked out for me. i love having nerds for family

 

[Aquarium1]

lol lucky! I'm searching for a duplicate file finder (I have a lot of duplicate pictures).

 

[mommytron]

OMG i am horrible at organizing my pictures. i have SO many dupes. same with our MP3's, i think right now it says we have like 4,000 songs but really only like 2,700... the rest are dupes!

 

[Aquarium1]

Found one , its now searching my iPhoto library. Hopefully it works good.

 

[mommytron]

i'd usually go straight for games that take up lots of space that i don't really play anymore. you can always re-install them if you want.

 

[Aquarium1]

true. I don't have many, but I'll look.

EDIT: yay 608 MB lol

 

[Aquarium1]

Tada. Might add some aquarium gravel to that "river" too, it would also help to seed the tank. Ignore the shrimp pellets lol.

 

[mommytron]

i love those little orange rocks, they look like jellybeans also that one that is like black/red/white speckled, wicked cool