Day 8:

February 14, 2009

pH 7.5

NO₂ 0.3ppm

NH₃/NH₄⁺ 1.5

Today I tested again before adding ¾ teaspoon of Ammonia. I decided not to test for water hardness everyday because I don’t want to run out of testing solution and also because it is not necessary to cycle.

After adding the ammonia I waited more than an hour and tested again.

NO₂ 0.3ppm

NH₃/NH₄⁺ 5ppm

We shall see what happens next! I am hoping that when I check tomorrow the Ammonia levels will have dropped and the Nitrite will have spiked.

I have turned up the heater as I mentioned on Day 5 however due to the coldness of my house and the fact that I still didn’t have a hood the temperature had been holding steady at 74 degrees F. So I got Mendal to cover it with tin foil while I was at work yesterday and it is now at 79 degrees F. I hope that the poor little heater will eventually get the temperature higher, it’s currently set on 88 degrees. To help I added a second heater, a Tetra Whisper submersible heater for 2-15 gallon tank. It did power on for a few minutes today but I doubt it will be very much help since it is not adjustable and is set at 78 degrees F. This is the heater I have in both Hex tanks, I have an extra from a quarantine tank I used to use.

I will be testing again tomorrow night. I will also be placing the order for the lighting retrofit for the hood. It is a 65 Watt straight pin Power Compact Lamp with Ballast, endcap and reflector for $74.99. I’ve checked all over the web and cannot find a conclusive price, basically because I can’t find the same thing the guy at my LFS found! I need a single bulb because if the size of the hood and the only things I can find are two bulb retrofits. Plus I get the added bonus of help from one of the guys at my LFS, Aquarium Center of North Carolina!

Product Mentioned:

For more about heater go here: http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafish/catalog/productdetail.aspx?id=1276&cid=63

Purchase heater here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3743+16756&pcatid=16756