Lincoln

[Hugsplox]

Update on Lincoln's Water parameters.

Today, 5 days after last water change, and about 3 1/2 weeks in, the water parameters were as follows:

Ammonia: 1ppm

Nitrite: 0.25-0.5ppm

Nitrate: 5ppm

I did a 20% water change today with gravel syphon and added Seed again.

So the good news is that the tank is producing nitrates from nitrite. The bad news is ammonia was a little high for my liking. Since the tank is already producing nitrites and nitrates, I want to keep ammonia below 1ppm. Between he 20% water change and the gravel syphon, we should be in good shape. My guess is it's down 30%.

I plan to add the Seed for a few days and also add some extra biological media. That will not be seeded, but it's the porous clay stuff and I will put in a small mesh bag. This should speed up the adoption of beneficial bacteria. Not sure I need it, but it can't hurt.

My guess is by this time in 2 weeks, we will only be seeing Nitrates.

In the meantime, Lincoln seems fine and is showing no visible signs of stress. Gills look good, colors are good, and he's eating happily.

I think you have a good plan in place dakski. The Nitrogen cycle is a fickle beast for sure and it took my longer than I'd like to admit to feel like I really had a good grasp on what I was doing with it.

If Seed isn't working for you quick enough, I've always had a lot of luck using Tetra Safestart Plus. I've speed cycled some tanks when I needed to set up a quarantine tank for some reason with that stuff, and all I can say is I was thankful to have a few bottles on hand.