Probably time for me to update here I started my tank up again a while back this time even more heavily planted over $400 in plants and I invested in a $200 plant light so everything seems to be doing well although the light really brings out the algae so my glass gets covered every couple days no problem I just scrub it off I did have a couple deaths after the first cycle of the tank but then I let it cycle with fish for about another month before adding more and so far so good in it right now I have 5 bloodfin tetras 1 neon tetras 1 rasbora (I believe harlequin but not 100% sure) 1 kuhli loach and 1 yo-yo loach the water is a little low it evaporates pretty fast I need to do a water change in the next couple of days although with all the plants I’ve been able to really cut back on the amount of water changes maybe once a month or when needed I test to water every 2-5 days so it doesn’t get overrun with ammonia and nitrates and nitrites and if they are high I do a water change other then that I top it up every 2-3 days since it evaporates very fast

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I forgot there’s also one cherry barb in here.
 
Cleaned my three tanks yesterday.

The ailing heater in the 29g wasn't heating above the room temperature of 68°! I replaced it with two Fluval 50s that I bought recently, on sale. Within a couple hours the water temperature was up to 74° This morning it was 76°-77°, that will do nicely.
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29g

I also installed a diverter on two of the sponge filters (1 in 29g, 1 in 15g). They're supposed to increase surface movement which helps add oxygen to the water.
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Ember tetras ⬆️

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15g

The Fluval 100 heater I'd installed in the 15g a few weeks ago is keeping it toasty at 77°-78°, perfect. I decided to not switch it to the 29g, why make a change when it's working well?

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Striped Kuhli loach in 29. I bet the loaches are feeling better today with warmer water.
 
So I started up my tank again after Christmas. I'm pretty sure my last fish died because my nitrogen cycle crashed when the old tank sprung a leak and I moved everything over into the new tank.

I decided to do a fishless cycle before bringing any more fish home. I added ammonium chloride to 4ppm and on day 4 (yesterday) my ammonia and nitrites were both at zero. I added more ammonium last night, enough to bring the ammonia back up to 4ppm and by 10a the ammonia was down to 4ppm and nitrites up to 5ppm. And nitrAtes were between 20 and 40ppm! On day 5! I'm so excited!
 
So I started up my tank again after Christmas. I'm pretty sure my last fish died because my nitrogen cycle crashed when the old tank sprung a leak and I moved everything over into the new tank.

I decided to do a fishless cycle before bringing any more fish home. I added ammonium chloride to 4ppm and on day 4 (yesterday) my ammonia and nitrites were both at zero. I added more ammonium last night, enough to bring the ammonia back up to 4ppm and by 10a the ammonia was down to 4ppm and nitrites up to 5ppm. And nitrAtes were between 20 and 40ppm! On day 5! I'm so excited!
Awesome!!!!!
 
Took a water sample to my LFS yesterday and got distressing results. I feel confident my tank is cycled because I am reading 0ppm on ammonia, nitrites and nitrAtes. But the fish store said my ammonia was 75 (75ppm? idk, they just gave me a number)!
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Exact same water sample, using my API freshwater master test kit 🙁

I'll be calling the store this morning when they open, but I am so confused that the test results are so wildly different. And questioning if my test kit is any good. :barnie
 
Took a water sample to my LFS yesterday and got distressing results. I feel confident my tank is cycled because I am reading 0ppm on ammonia, nitrites and nitrAtes. But the fish store said my ammonia was 75 (75ppm? idk, they just gave me a number)!View attachment 4029221Exact same water sample, using my API freshwater master test kit 🙁

I'll be calling the store this morning when they open, but I am so confused that the test results are so wildly different. And questioning if my test kit is any good. :barnie
I had always trusted our kit. But the one time we had our tested at another store it showed higher than our kit we used 2 times a week. Which is the same one you have. I wouldnt say your is to high by the color
 
Alright, so when I called the fish store they said they also use the API test kit. And while I was talking to them I noticed a decimal point i had missed. So the employee that tested the water read it as 0.75ppm. Which, isn't a reading you can get from the api color charts. So, the employee was rushed, scribbled down 0.25 and then couldn't read their own writing because the 2 looked like a 7.

And the difference between 0.25ppm and 0ppm is easily explained by lightning differences and personal color perception. I feel much better! I still think they're wrong, but at least there's an explanation that makes sense.
 

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