Day 10

Ten days after setting up and the tank and the water parameters are looking good. The tank has definitely benefited from the added circulation and has been crystal clear. This may have also helped keep the diatom bloom down. I didn't get the chance to pick up a different test kit to compare against the Red Sea Marine Lab which I feel has been giving me inaccurate results. The readings from today are as follows:

• Temperature: 80° F
• Specific gravity: 1.023 ppt
• pH: 8.3
• KH (alkalinity): 2.7 meq/L (10° dKH with API)
• NH₃/NH₄ (ammonia): less than 0.25 ppm
• NO₂ (nitrite): 0 ppm
• NO₃ (nitrate): 2.5 ppm (0 ppm with API)

The test results actually gave me some new figures though I'm still sketchy about its accuracy. While the ammonia is showing at less than 0.25 ppm, it's still not completely down to zero although nitrite is down to zero all the way. Nitrate is reading at 2.5 ppm but is reading at zero with the API tester.

As tempting as it is for me to start adding livestock at this point, it's probably best to wait for a couple more weeks until I know for sure that my parameters are stable and that the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are consistently down to zero.