Our First Tank - Log #2

Some time has passed since my last post! Our tank has evolved quite a bit since September 3rd. Time for photos and happenings!



First of all, this. This is truly a master test kit. It touts enough liquid to take 800 tests, but I don't know if that's actually true. The bottom line is that this kit is almost a mandatory part of anyone's fish supply arsenal. These water tests are accurate if done right, and that's really not difficult to do since it comes with a book full of instructions. It even says how many drops to put into the vials on the bottle itself, just in case you read the instructions and suddenly forgot how many drops you're supposed to use. (As someone with ADHD, that happens more often than I'd like to admit.) We decided to put this test to the test (hah), and see the current parameters of our tank.


I filled all four vials with 5ml, more or less. I could have tried a little harder to get them all even, but frankly it's a pain in the ass.


I decided to go with the three cycling basics: ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I used the last vial for a pH test. After using the test solutions, this is what I got.


No ammonia. I think I may have done this one wrong, but this is before I used Dr. Tim's. (It's a bottle of ammonia that you drip into the tank to kickstart cycling.)


No nitrites. This is no surprise. There definitely wasn't enough beneficial bacteria in my tank to convert ammonia to nitrites.


No nitrates. Again, not a surprise. If the tank isn't cycled enough to turn ammonia into nitrites, it certainly can't turn nitrites into nitrates.


The last test, the ph test, showed that my tank was more acidic. (Neutral is 7.)


It was also around this time that we ordered some amazon frogbit (a floating plant with hanging roots), and when it arrived, this little guy must have hatched. We named him Jerry. Despite bladder snails being considered pests by most aquarists, they are amazing at cleaning up. Jerry had no fear of the biofilm blob.

The tank was dosed with Dr. Tim's ammonia and the wait truly began. The buildup of beneficial bacteria can take a very long time. We were going to wait as long as possible to get our tank where it needed to be.

For the record, we assembled the tank on August 30th. The tests in this log were done on September 5th. By the time we spotted Jerry, it was September 12th.

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