test results

Pulled fuzzy food out of the window tank, dropped in another algae wafer fragment. I raised the temp on this tank to 78° to encourage the beneficial bacteria growth and ready it for the incoming fish. Cycle is in full swing- Ammonia still 0.25, Nitrite spike at 0.5ppm, Nitrates look about 20-30. Ordered poly filter a few days ago before I realized my snails are actually okay, so overnight I put a piece of it in the HOB just to see what it would pull. I didn't get the color indicating copper- good. Instead it turned a pale orangish brown. Which means it's absorbing organics and maybe iron. I did drop in some sterilized chips of granite from coarse gravel under my deck, to hold down the hornwort stems. Perhaps some of them have a bit of iron, but maybe that would just help the plants- I don't think it's enough to cause harm. Tested pH and it was not affected.