My ammonia and nitrate looking great but I stalled out on nitrites while cycling. I did a 40% change last night but my nitrites didn’t budge. I just did another 50% and this is a comparison of this morning vs 1hr after restarting filters post 50% water change. Should I do another 50% in a few hours after my water finishes aerating (I have to bring pH down from the tap)?
Due to quite a few plant additions after initial set up and rearranging things, along with typical new plant melt, my intakes are pretty covered. I don’t see any reduction to my filter flows but wasn’t sure if during my end of cycle water change I should swish these off on the old water before loading with fish? Or is that going to push me back into cycling? Exude the biofilm haha we are thick with it right now.
My tap water maxed out the low pH test, so I tried the high pH and it maxed that out as well. The my fluval stratum and driftwood my tank pH is about 6.6/6.8 while cycling. My concern is when I do water changes or top offs eventually my fish are going to be shocked. My tank is not close to my faucet so a drip is going to be hard and I can’t swing an RO system right now. Should I use pH down when it comes time for water changes? Also tested my KH and that is at 0 in my tap water.
I have a finnex planted + 24/7 HCL light on my 40G breeder. Unfortunately the glass cover has a black hinge on it, which makes a shadow when I try centering the light. I can push it towards the back but I get shadows in the front right like in the first photo, or pull forward and have less light on the background plants (Val, mayaca and ludwigia). I also considered a second light but am afraid that would be too much light for my plants and just cause algae. I don’t want to shell out another $125 if it’s just going to cause more issues.
Trying to decide if I want to center the tank more in the space or leave the larger gap on the left to get my arm in there if needed? I want to make the decision before I fill it this weekend when my plants arrive.