Well I finally gave up on waiting for 0 nitrites, it was actually pretty close to clear on the test so I bought CUC, a variety of 11 snails, and they seem to be doing just fine. Going to start doing water changes. Things look go so i'm much happier. Heat is still an issue, I'm looking at some kind of clip on lighting to replace the hood, I'm hoping that removing the hood will help reduce the temperature. As of now with summer heat etc it starts out around 80 and gets up to 82 around 3-4 pm so I usually shut off the lights then...that is with the door on the hood open.