"Liz" wrote in message
oups.com...
Do you have a situation where the water parameters must be monitored?

Yes, I'm a newbie who made the mistake of doing what the people at the
fish store told me, and so I've got to keep an eye on things daily
until the cycle is done (ammonia just hit 0 today! hooray! Nitrite
will follow soon, I'm sure (I added Bio-Spira on Monday, after learning
about it and how to properly apply it)).

Congrats on the zero NH3. I've watched many people do jigs for this one.

But you're right, of course - I'm looking at it backwards, reactively
instead of proactively. It's quite clear that you've got a lot of
experience - to which I gratefully yield.

I'll resist temptations to buy an 8-channel pipetter (shouldn't be hard
at $300+) and continue reading 'til I don't feel the need for one. :-)

Well, I'm very happy if I've influenced you in something which saved you
money. I don't usually have *that* effect on people ;~).

Ammonia & nitrite are the first test kits to collect dust and expire from
lack of use or necessity. Depending on your source water and your
application (fish-load), your testing requirements might be quite
minimal. There are many folks here who are very qualified to advise you,
but I suspect that you'll want to get past your nitrite spike first. The
bad news is that NO2 spikes are longer than NH3, but I've heard very good
things about Bio-Spira. I hope that you can keep us advised on your
progress.
--
www.NetMax.tk


Thanks,

Liz