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enoush

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Jul 20, 2008
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This is my first attempt at any sort of aquarium, suggestions, etc. are appreciated :).

My setup:
-5.5 gallon rectangular glass tank
-2 Java ferns
-generic, gray, rock-like substrate with some river rocks and glass pebbles thrown on top
-Aquaclear 20 power filter

I'm using an API freshwater master kit for my tests.

Just ordered:
-visitherm stealth heater
-coralife digital thermometer

My Betta, Koray, has been staying in a vase for a little while now because of pH issues with my water. I'm getting some distilled water from my LFS tomorrow, so, hopefully, that will take care of everything. I'm planning on taking out all the water in my tank, but whatever is left in the substrate, and replacing it with this distilled water- is this a good idea?

Also, I'm looking for some lighting suggestions. I am planning on putting more plants in my tank, and am looking for something that will run Wisteria and some low - medium light plants.

Oh, and a friend of mine with a pico reef gave me some dead live rock, I've been soaking it in tap water with hopes of killing whatever is on it and using it as decoration in my tank. Has anyone done this before, and if so, with what results? Did it hurt the aquarium environment in anyway?

Thanks in advance!
 
When I tested my tap water, it was 7.6, or possibly higher. The other water I was using was Deer Park, it's what I've been putting in the vase with my fish, and that tested as 6.0, but he seems to be doing well with that.
 
u shouldnt ever use distilled water btw, there are good minerals in the water. Fish dont swim in distilled water to begin with. 5.5 gal is a decent tank for a betta, although most would suggest larger, but make sure u dont over decor your tank. U want ur betta to be able to swim haha. Good choice on the filter though. Bettas like a heated tank, mine is around 80f. Take a look in my album to see my fish zip
 
If not distilled, which I'm assuming has the desired 7.0 pH, then what? I tried treating my tap water, but I'm afraid its "hardness" is high enough that the treatment (Seachem's Betta Basics) won't affect anything.
 
It's not high pH that bothers fish, it's stability. As long as you aren't keeping supersensitive fish, and the pH remains stable, he can be in that tank.
 
You don't even need the Betta Basics...just another ploy to get your money.

A good dechlor like Prime and your tap water will be fine.
 
i have been using betta splendid water conditioner which is made by aqua pharm inc (API) and it works well. I have used the bottle up and have moved to API's regular water conditioner. Their regular water conditioner is the same as the betta splendid version but is 4x more concentrated. I was using 24 drops of the betta conditioner vs 6 of the regular per gallon. My assumption is that the betta conditioner is diluted due to the common small size of betta tanks. I like the API, alot of people swear by prime, i have never used it, and probably wont unless i hit trouble with API.

API and several other brands make water softening solutions or hardening solutions as well as ph adjusters. Just remember to let your tank cycle for a little bit to let the parameters of the water adjust to existing tank conditions (I.E. existing water, decor, substrate, etc). Once it has been cycled a bit, the parameters level off and you can take more accurate readings with your API master kit that you have. Stability is always key, consistancy is always good for your fish.
 
enoush said:
If not distilled, which I'm assuming has the desired 7.0 pH, then what? I tried treating my tap water, but I'm afraid its "hardness" is high enough that the treatment (Seachem's Betta Basics) won't affect anything.
Click to expand...

distilled may have the 'perfect' pH(this is relative btw) but it has 0 buffering capabilities. you need kH carbonate hardness to buffer the water.
distilled in and of itself is not bad to use..but only in certain instances..an example may be in an extreme hardwater case. where you may want to mix distilled or RO water with source water(tap). in essence you need to add some buffers to the water.
prime is a great choice for treating the water.
 
my pH is 8.0 and my bettas are doing fantastic. I would recommend using your tap water and keepign things stable rather than having possilby disastrous fluctuations. I imagine the dead live rock would buffer your water and raise the pH further. Good plants for a tank that small would be something like anubias petite. Not sure on ones that are mid light range.
 
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