Hi ive just set up a new tank - it is a little 5g.
so heres the story so far, its day 3 of the set up, we filled it up, dechlorinated it put in some stress zyme and some 'nutrafin cycle'.
i have a few questions - firstly, is nutrfin cycle a source of ammonia? it doesnt say on the bottle - only rapidly matures new tanks and boosts ammonia eating bacteria. if not then i will buy some pure ammonia.
i did a water test today and the readings say:
PH 7.6
KH 15
GH 16d
NO2 1
NO3 50
the PH seems good but other than that what am i looking for when trying to cycle a tank? what does everything stand for? sorry for all the seemingly obvious questions but the test strips didnt come with an instruction book (like it should have done).
also, how often does the water in a 5g need to be syphoned? i have noticed that some algae has started to grow on the inside of the glass, should i leave it there or scape it and do a water change? i have looked through the pinned topics but i am still a little confused as to what is a good sign and what is a bad one
can any of you knowledgable people help?
so heres the story so far, its day 3 of the set up, we filled it up, dechlorinated it put in some stress zyme and some 'nutrafin cycle'.
i have a few questions - firstly, is nutrfin cycle a source of ammonia? it doesnt say on the bottle - only rapidly matures new tanks and boosts ammonia eating bacteria. if not then i will buy some pure ammonia.
i did a water test today and the readings say:
PH 7.6
KH 15
GH 16d
NO2 1
NO3 50
the PH seems good but other than that what am i looking for when trying to cycle a tank? what does everything stand for? sorry for all the seemingly obvious questions but the test strips didnt come with an instruction book (like it should have done).
also, how often does the water in a 5g need to be syphoned? i have noticed that some algae has started to grow on the inside of the glass, should i leave it there or scape it and do a water change? i have looked through the pinned topics but i am still a little confused as to what is a good sign and what is a bad one
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can any of you knowledgable people help?