Day 11 - Sunday July 8th - Around 6pm
We were back from our trip to the Columbia Gorge on Saturday and I quickly made a water top-off and tested again nitrites: above 1.0 ppm.
On Sunday, some brown algae appeared on some rocks. I suppose these are the infamous diatoms. Here is the latest picture, please confirm that the rusty look of my rocks are because of diatoms, thanks! There is a little spot that gets some green stuff.
I tested again for NO2, and again it is way in the red, even more reddish than anything shown on the test card. It looks like that this tank is taking plenty of time to cycle. I opted to add more of the "NitroBac" product that comes with the Starter Kit to speed up things a bit... I added one fourth of the recommended dose for the volume of the Red Sea Max. This is the second time I do so.
Skimming is still hapenning at a decent rate. I emptied again and then cleaned the collection cup, rinsing it under very hot tap water. This stinks.
Weather was very nice and warm today in Seattle - and the tank drank about 3 pints of fresh RO/DI water... Yes, I am using a beer glass for the top-offs.
I also talked to customer service on Thursday about my defective timer. Pleasant, polite and nice people. They will send a new timer. But still... a bit annoying. I am considering getting a spare pump and later a spare heater.