Hey allie,
Regarding the cycling, you might want to purchase a few test kits to see when your ammonia and nitrite levels are 0, and your nitrates begin to rise.
Regarding the lighting, I am looking at purchasing a Nova Extreme T5HO fixture which is currently on sale at Drs Fosters Smith, so might want to look into those. If you want to make the lighting even cheaper, you could probably go with a retrofit kit, and make a hood yourself to install the retrofit kit.
cheers,
Regarding the cycling, you might want to purchase a few test kits to see when your ammonia and nitrite levels are 0, and your nitrates begin to rise.
Regarding the lighting, I am looking at purchasing a Nova Extreme T5HO fixture which is currently on sale at Drs Fosters Smith, so might want to look into those. If you want to make the lighting even cheaper, you could probably go with a retrofit kit, and make a hood yourself to install the retrofit kit.
cheers,
