Got My Diatoms

[leeandstacie]

Evening
I got the diatoms I was expecting in my new nano tank yesterday. They are proper ugly, but I am sure my 2 blue legged hermits will eat them up.

I am in day 12 and test my water every other day.
Today it tested at

PH 8.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 5.0

Does this indicate to anyone that I am on the right track

2 days ago my results were

PH 8.0
Ammonia 0.50
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 5.0

I have also noticed (maybe paranoid) that the PH differs alot from am to pm

Cheers

 

[Morri]

Diatoms are part of the normal cycle if they persist for a few more weeks ten you may need to address the issue what times do you have the lights on for ?

I would do a large water change and tank should be good to add some CUC.

PH will change due to lighting and will drop over night

 

[leeandstacie]

Thanks Morri

I put my lights on at 8:45am and switch them off approx 8pm

 

[steelhealr]

pH swings are to be expected. Try an experiment. Test your pH in the morning and then just after lights out. Print the results here. Guess what it will show.

Diatoms are the normal progression of the cycling process. As you probably know by now, ammonia appears first, followed by the bacteria that break ammonia down into nitrite, followed by the bacteria that break nitite down into nitrate. When nitrite and ammonia are at zero, your cycle is complete and it is safe to add your cleanup crew. Do NOT add corals until your tank has time to mature. If you are going to add fish, I recommend a period of observation and practice at water changes. You also need to see how your nitrates level out.

WTG.

SH

 

[leeandstacie]

I just got home from work so ill do test tomorrow and post up results

Cheers