My 55 Gallon Tank

[Hpimichael02]

today my test results
ammonia: 0 pmm
nitrite: 1 ppm
nitrate: 100+ppm

im not gonna do a water change until my nitrite has hit zero at that time i will do a 20% water change(15gallons) to lower the nitrate. i will keep doing this till those levels are acceptable.

moved my QT to under my DT and will be getting some fish on tuesday and get them ready for a 2-3 week QT, by then im hoping that my tank will fianly be ready for them :)

[Hpimichael02]

today i got my for now main power head a sun-sun 1600GPH dual power head off ebay for $24. this will be my back up when i get my 2 1050 korilia PH

[hockeyhead019]

sounds like it's coming along nicely... expect to see an algae bloom soon with such high trates in there... definitely a good plan with the w/c schedule

if you do start to see huge algae bloom some people throw turbo snails in there to help with that (they'll be ok in the high trate level)

[Hpimichael02]

I got another 17 pounds of rock, I swear I have the worst timing for buying rock lol. That brings me to 47lbs gotta wait a few days for another shipment

[hockeyhead019]

The scaping looks cool! If that's going to be something like your final layout though make sure that it's sturdy or else it's bound to fall and you don't want it to fall and hurt something

[Hpimichael02]

i still need more rock, however it is very stable how it is now.

i just ordered a T5 fixture for the time being its a 4x54w fixture. it comes with 2 10k bulbs and 2 actinic bulbs, im gonna switch one 10k and a actinic bulb with a super blue bulb's, to make it much more appealing and blue

[Hpimichael02]

and BTW why wont my nitrites drop ?

[Cliff]

In a SW cycle, the nitrate eating bacteria will take a very long time to grow. You will have to give that part a few more weeks (or longer)

When I cycled my 90 gallon, I did not see a natural drop in the nitrates for another 4 or 5 weeks after the ammonia and nitrites where consistently at zero

[hockeyhead019]

Like Cliff said it's just the way it is lol nothing to be over concerned about just gotta let things run their course

[Hpimichael02]

so i have been debating if i truely need a sump and protein skimmer. i would love to have a PS but with out a sump that is not going to happen, however my stand is narrow and not allot of room and i think i would only fit a 10G tabnk plus a small QT tank next to that . unless i would make my own Sump+ QT all together but sectioned off.

what should i do ? go with a PS and sump ?