water parameters?

in planted tanks you do not vac heavily in the planted sections only open space..in the planted sections you should only surface vac the area..the mulm/detritus adds to the base material surrounding the roots..especially so for root feeders.

but you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and low nitrates (in planted you want to keep nitrates at 10-20)
how heavily planted is the tank?

at 4-5 months a tank should be already cycled.
 
i thought it was? stuff on the sponge- happy fish- no deaths- fry- ect. just wanted to know if co2 was gonna hurt anything.

but its pretty planted. 15w for 4 months and now 30w for about a week
some trace ferts added a couple of weeks ago. under dosed to be sure.
no algae problems at all. and a peice of drift wood that was used for a couple years already.

water wisteria- foot- foot and a half
some val-- 2 bulbs foot
java moss- golf ball clump
moss ball-- golf ball
anacharis-- 4-5 peices foot
fox tail-- same ^
floating hornwort-- big fist portion off to the side.
and a mystery plant- small thin, and 2-3 of em'
 
you there star_rider?


anyone else think im ok? just high b/c of a needed gravel vac and it was sampled right before a WC was due?
 
As it has been said already, a cycled tank should have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, even after a week or 2 before you vac. If they are not, you should do water changes (daily if needed) to keep them below .25 (if you have fish in them) until your cycle is complete. Test daily until you are sure that the chemistry is stabilized then weekly. Your cycle is complete when you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites consistently.
 
so daily WC then since im not cycled yet or just didnt gravel vac?

what percent would you recomend for the break in like period?

is prime ok to break in or use at each daily water change.

thankyou in advance
 
Do what ever it takes to keep your ammonia and nitrite below .25. That is why it is important to have your own test kits. Higher levels will damage your fish. I started out without knowing about the nitrogen cycle, but when I found out, there were times I had to do 2 50% water changes a day to get my ammonia and nitrite down. Prime is ok to use as directed. It is only to remove chemicals from your replacement water that you are going to use in your water changes.
 
i add prime to the tank then add my refill water? i use a python.

will prime throw off my readings? i went out and bought a test kit-api master.

and i added prime a couple of days before my water change and checked it 2 days later. everything was good. 0's on everything.

could prime throw it off after 2 days? when shouldnt you test your water?

like i wanna test it before a WC to see how bad it gets right before dillution. and then after my WC to see and make sure everything is stable?
 
bump
 
im not sure?^
 
bump
 
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