This patience lark

[Ghost Gum]

Last nights test saw no change.

The GH was still sky high over 50 and kh seems to have dropped to 8.

I think if there is no noticeable movement by Sunday I'll order some bacteria in a bottle and consider a water change with what I have on hand.

Would pushing the temp up to 30 be of any use?

[black ghost]

30 is the optimum temperature for bacterial growth, but I think you’re flogging a dead horse with that GH.

[Ghost Gum]

Well I'll up the temp and give it a couple of days then do as much of a water change as I can and then I guess it's a matter of rinse and repeat until the GH starts dropping.
I know it needs to come down anyway for fish so the sooner the better.

[black ghost]

You’ll need to cut it with RO...? Or rain filtered through PolyFilter if you’re in the countryside...

[Ghost Gum]

In lieu of having RO I can get demineralised by the boat load, having a sniff around some Spanish forums it seems to be what some use as well so I'm going to use that until we get an RO system.
Tested it for GH last night and it immediately changed faint green so it should work for the time being.

[black ghost]

I forgot you’re in Spain. Rain might not be as viable an option as in Britain...

[Vale!]

... particularly so if GG lives in a hilly area (and if there's any truth to the song)

[Ghost Gum]

Rain can be a bit scarce, had a little last week but normally it comes in spring and autumn downpours. The house doesn't even have gutters, I'd love to collect what we do get.
In summer I use the water from the air conditioner to water the garden as it's a bit easier on the plants, doubt it'd be much use in an aquarium though.

[Ghost Gum]

Finally!

Nitrites have showed up.
There is at least 0.25ppm going by the colour. Thought it looked a bit off yesterday but definitely it is purple today.
Ammonia looks down to 1.5ppm, should I top that up now or wait for it to drop to zero?

Excited now.
The bloom is still hanging about too.
I was going to do a water change with what I have available in a day or two if things didn't change to get some of that hard water out, should I still do that or wait a bit longer now nitrites are present?

Started on the 27th of December so it's been a month.

Still it's proof of concept.

[VikingMummy2015]

Wait for it to drop to zero before topping back up. I’d personally leave the water change until it’s at zero.