Well, since they are the sticks, they are a little tricky to read, so there may be traces of the 2 N's. I need to pony up and get a real test kit instead of the strips, although they are good for quick tests. I may sound well versed, but this is the first time I have tried keeping anything other than goldfish, tetra's or mollies, so I really want to do it right this time. I've been doing more reading than normal. Funny, since when I was in grade school I wanted to be a marine biologist =)

Maybe I'll check into the system they have installed at the local Superstore. The one where you take in your big plastic jugs to get refilled. I think that it's R/O. And it's even cheaper than buying the 1 gallon distilled waters.

What about thoughts on using an API (or other brand) water softener pillow in the filter? This is what it suggests on the instructions for the test strips. That and the distilled water changes.

Hi Kelbri, sounds like you've pretty much got it all worked out but I just thought I'd answer your specific questions re gouramis. Well I've got 4 gourami's in a communtiy tank which also has 3 angels and lots of various tetra species and they all live very happily together. When the angels try and breed they get a bit territorial but the gouramis just go to the other side of the tank without complaining and there is never any fighting.