New to chemistry and Aquarium plants
- Thread starter joshob
- Start date
First, there's no need to wait to plant the tank. The plants will help make the water 'right'. They will use the bad stuff like any nitrItes and ammonia.
Did you test tank and tap? Don't you have a more accurate reading than 'between 5 and 6?
What I'd like you to do is take a sample of tap water and set it on the kitchen counter for a few hours. Then test it for pH, gH, kH, phosphates and nitrAtes if you have those kits. Test both tank and tap with whatever kits are available to you and post both sets of results back here. Then we will have a better idea of what you've got and what the tap is giving you. Telling us it's soft doesn't help.....soft is good, but how soft is it?
Also, size of tank, wattage and type of light over the tank, type of substrate filtration. Those kinds of things help in making suggestions.
Len
Did you test tank and tap? Don't you have a more accurate reading than 'between 5 and 6?
What I'd like you to do is take a sample of tap water and set it on the kitchen counter for a few hours. Then test it for pH, gH, kH, phosphates and nitrAtes if you have those kits. Test both tank and tap with whatever kits are available to you and post both sets of results back here. Then we will have a better idea of what you've got and what the tap is giving you. Telling us it's soft doesn't help.....soft is good, but how soft is it?
Also, size of tank, wattage and type of light over the tank, type of substrate filtration. Those kinds of things help in making suggestions.
Len
I'm not sure why my Ph is so low. I completed a water change early this morning then, I recieved my test kit and tested later this afternoon. I was wrong about my ammonia, it's pretty high. Everything in the tank seems to be healthy. I changed my filter to hopefully correct the ammonia. The tank has been up for about 6 months with 6 tetra's. It's a small 5 Gallon that I have in my office. I really want to set it off with some nice plants. I bought the test kit off of Dr. Foster and Smith website. It tests all that I have listed and has instructions. I followed them to the T. I'll probably be crucified on here for the tank I bought, but it is a Wal-Mart Regency 5. It's decent for my office desk. The light is an 8 watt full spectrum flourescent.
joshob said:
Now, why would we do that?
Many people have 5 gallon planted tanks. I think they look pretty cool. Like Len said, you should get lots of plants from the start to help with your water chemistry. Do water changes as needed. Don't overfeed your fish, and test your water for all the things previously mentioned.
Once you get the ammonia and nitrite problem under control, you should consider getting some algae eating shrimps to complete the setup.
Your co-workers will be wowed. I warn you, you may not get any work done.
:
And once again, you're not going to hurt the plants by planting them into the tank ASAP. They will use the ammonia and nitrites and get the tank ready for the fish or shrimp that follow.
Len
Len
