February 26, 2024
| Ph High (API) | Ammonia (API) | Nitrite (API) | Nitrate (API) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | 0 | 0 | 40-80 |
Still getting 0 on ammonia and nitrite, which is great! My nitrate measurements have consistently been between 40 and 80. I find it really difficult to distinguish between the colors on the Test Kit, so it's hard to say. Strip tests I used show that the nitrate could be as low as 20. So I'm not really worried at this time.
Added one pump of easy green after testing.
Over the last week I added the remaining fish into the tank. I was able to give 10 of them to a friend, along with a tank. I don't know exactly how many fish are in the tank. Excluding fish that have been born in the last month, there are probably 15-20. I'm fairly certain there has been another group of fry born in the last two weeks, they have so many places to hide so I didn't see them but I have seen some fish that are way too small. I'm hoping to continue to give them away and achieve stasis in the tank regarding their population. Their population was fairly stablized (not growing, they were probably overcrowed) in their old tank.
The lights have been on for 12 hours a day. I have not seen an algae explosion, there is some growing on the top of the spider wood near the surface, but you can't really see it due to the duckweed. The walls have a very light coating, I can't get a good pic with the camera. Guessing they will need to be cleaned in 2 - 4 weeks.
The pennywort is really spreading across and out of the tank. I'm training it up the spiderwood as it grows. Based on the growth so far, I expect this plant to completely take over the tank. I'm going to let it get real big before I start cutting it back.
The lily bulbs have especially surprised me, looking at old pictures they have grown a ton and their color looks pretty good! One even sent off a shoot which could turned into a new plant.
The monte carlo and hairgrass are not doing good. I think it takes a bit for these plants to get established and the fish tend to hang near the filter with them. They have knocked a lot of my carpet out. Going to continue watching this situation develop, it might not be too late for either of these plants.
