CUC and TEST questions

yes ist not a good idea to throw away water at this stage and replace with more new water - hece syphon, remove the crud (aesthetics as its doing no harm)

Whisky Tango Foxtrot has a good point with feedings - the fish will eat as many times as you will feed them in a day (they are never sure if another meal will come , so eat irrespective of any real need) they may consume it all in 3 mins, but then obviously the waste output is greater


when you start building up your stocks, water quality will become critical and less feedings = less waste

Steve

 

Wow. Thanx. I'll def cut the feeding down to once a day. I'll hold off on adding anything until the cycle is complete. I can handle the sand and rock looking how it does.. based on what you all are telling me, it's normal(except for the overfeeding). That works for me. I really appreciate all the help.

 

welcome
the thing with diatoms that panics most people is - they get a lot worse before they go away - so after a couple of days you get a brown dust, that spreads, and a week later your back glass, side glass , all your rocks and all your sand are covered in cocoa powder

and when this happens - all you have to do is - Ignore it and trust it will go away