Amm. 2.4
trItes scant

added 1 1/2 tsp. ammonia

Finally, amm has drifted down to about 2.9, with trItes scant.   Hooray!  We are on our way!

Driftwood has been soaking all week, with fewer tannins being released everyday.  Hopefully we will get the driftwood in once things are rockin and rollin with cycling.

So the weekend was busy.  We got a Fluval G6 filter, another heater and a beeeeeautiful big piece of driftwood.  We have been soaking the driftwood since Sunday, and already the tannins have decreased.  Scott was wonderful and set up the filter and the heater, and dealt with the pet store when parts were missing.  Filter and heater are working nicely.

As for the cycling of the tank.  Ammonia finally started to drop on Friday, and Saturday it had dropped enough to add more ammonia.  Nitrites also started to show!  Sunday, however, the ammonia was unchanged, and no nitrites were seen.  Huh. Interesting.  Still have to test today, but hopefully things are continuing in the right direction.

Having problems getting amm. up to appropriate levels.  Posted over on aquaticcommunity.com, and found out that Safeway sells ammonia!  Got Scott to pick some up.

Ammonia 0.6 pre
+1 tsp ammonia amm unchanged
+1.5 tsp amm 1.2
+2 tsp amm 2.4
+2.5 tsp amm 4.9 finally!

total tsp = 7

Let's get this bacteria party started!

Scott helped me set up the air pump and bubblers last night.  Took a while, about 45 min., mostly because I was trying to get the tubing under the gravel and it wouldn't stay.  Who knew things filled with air are buoyant? Ha ha. I also had my arm in up to my armpit and still couldn't get things quite right.  We'll fix things when we do a water change after cycling is completed.

The bubbling dragon looks awesome!  It's not too big, and I think it will blend in nicely with the rest of the hardscape.  The freaking heater still doesn't keep the temp very steady.  I just had to turn it down, after turning it up and down and up...  Hopefully if straightens itself out or we will have to get another heater.

No pics, just imagine a tank filled with green water.

Just did first cycling water test.  The only parameter that has changed is the pH, which increase from 7.5 (from tap) to between 8 and 8.5.  Hmm.  Must look in to this.  Amm 0.6, trIte 0, trAte 0.

Also bought air lines and bubblers.  Hope to get that installed tonight.

ETA: Apparently pH is quite variable during cycling.  Will stop testing, and test only when cycling is completed.

Bacterial bloom even more noticeable today.  Tank smells like fish food when I open the lid. Continuing with adding fish food twice a day. Temp ranging still a bit wide, but stays high only for very short periods of time.  Running around 28- 28.8*C.

Happy news!  Got the Python and TOM brand air pump in the mail yesterday, no thanks to the post office.  Air pump feels way heavier than I anticipated.  Scott took a look at the Python and thought it was a cool design.  Am going to try and use it to give Molly a bath on the deck. Good practice, I think. Also have sketched out what parts I need to get a total of 4 airstones in the tank.

Prior to tonight's "feeding" of the tank, am going to test water parameters.  Going to show Scott the results.  Will post results.