Yay! I finally found a great LFS. The first one I went to turned out to be a dud. Not only was it saltwater focused, but the store itself was gross!! The tanks themselves looked fine, but the walls had mold on them, and the carpet showed extensive evidence of spillage. Of course, my 3-year-old declared "I need to go potty!!" shortly after we arrived, so I had to take him through a junk room to the grungy bathroom in the back. Ugh. (Gentlemen, in case you didn't know this, we women rate stores/restaurants/gas stations based on the quality and cleanliness of the restrooms.)

Anyhow, the second shop I went to had an extensive selection of freshwater fish, and a smaller selection of saltwater stuff. They had an impressive assortment of plants, and I got a nice piece of driftwood, which is soaking away as we speak (type). I'll definitely be buying my stock from this store.

After the bambino goes to bed tonight, I'll do a water check and add more ammonia, if needed. I'm assuming that cycling is already underway since I already have measurable nitrite?? I've got live plants, so I'm hoping that will speed things up.

Today's numbers:

Nitrate: 10 ppm
Nitrite: .05 ppm
pH: 8.4
Ammonia: 4.5 ppm

I'm assuming the increased pH is due to the presence of the basic ammonia. I'm not adding any ammonia today.

Oh, and I figured out how to graph this stuff on Open Office. Don't ask me how to do it, though, because I have no idea....

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Elly