Is this PetSmart advice legit?!

[FishObsessed]

Ok...I'm trying to mentally sort out the advice I received from PetSmart today so I thought I'd run it by you guys and see....this worker there seems very experienced, multiple tanks,showed me a picture of her planted tank and it look amazing...bright green,practically fake looking. I asked her what she "fed" her plants and she literally does nothing for them. She said they're just in gravel or sitting there with plant weights. No liquid fert, no root tabs. She may or may not have a good light for them. Is this possible???? 

She also told me when she does a water change (a minimal % of time due to plants and snails) she uses a brita filter (scratching my head) and always puts in a full tank dose of both API Stress Zyme and API Pimafix. Claims there may be diseases in the water that fish can catch. She also only feeds frozen food. And she uses baking soda in her tank water.

I'm so confused after talking to her bc her planted tank that she showed me a pic of looks great and she literally adds nothing to the water for the plants  Should I take her advice since we are near, or share, the same water source or does this sound as off as it did to me? Maybe I just have a lot to learn. 

[Cory]

It is achievable? Sure. But without knowing what plants and the structure of the water, it would just be guessing. 

As an example, a well could have every nutrient a plant would need in the water already. Depend on how you fed and what plants you had, you'd virtually be self sustaining. Something slow growing like anubias and fish food can go a long way without anything else. 

[Carolina Guy]

"Is this possible????"

Yes. I'd say it depends on the plants she has, the chemistry of the water, the livestock, and the lights. I run low light, and whether I add fertilizers or not, I have to periodically, and quite often, throw out excess Water Sprite, which can be a very fast grower for some folks. And years ago, I had a 75 gallon tank--very low light, no purchased fertilizers ever--that grew so thick with Java Fern and Java Moss (slow growers) that the fish could hardly get through it. And it almost seemed like the less light I gave the tank, the better those plants grew. (Much to my dismay, however, Vallisneria won't grow well at all for me.)

One thing I've learned is that a lot of aquarists have their superstitions. I figure that many of the things they do oftentimes don't necessarily help or hurt. I never argue with people about their rituals, though, and I've learned to just ignore a lot of advice that seems pointless to me.

Take my advice with a grain of salt too. I'm probably what most people would consider a lazy aquarist. I tend to stick with easy-to-keep fish and plants that seem to do well for me without too much work.

[Ken Burke]

Ummmm sounds off to me.  
 

i guess using a Britta filter is a less efficient want to remove chlorine.   But why?  
 

I’ve use baking soda to raise the ph, but what was her ph.

 

i really don’t use any fertilizer in my wife’s betta tank, ther is only a handful of them.  Hardly a lush jungle.  
 

i’d think twice before trusting her advice.  Would want to know a whole lot more....

[Ben Ellison]

Also one thing I believe we should take into a account is they may be green and look decent, but are they just more or less dormant and not growing. Also thinks like Java fern and Anubis that grow so slow to begin with that she doesn't need ferts. I think id take this person advice under consideration but more as a possibility under the right circumstances rather than a typical example.

[FishObsessed]

@Carolina Guy fellow Carolinian, what fish and plants do you find to be a breeze here?

[Carolina Guy]

48 minutes ago, FishObsessed said:

@Carolina Guy fellow Carolinian, what fish and plants do you find to be a breeze here?

Well, it can vary, of course, depending on where you are. I kept some Australian Rainbows (not the fancy, expensive kind though), Lemon Tetras, and Cherry Barbs for quite a few years when I lived near Greensboro (I had well water there), and they did well for me after I moved to Cary, too. Also in Cary, I've had good luck with a tank of tetras, Bolivian Rams, and Corydoras Catfish. (They'd probably get along okay without it, but I occasionally add a little chunk of Wondershell to that tank because my water has very little carbonate hardness.) And my livebearers (mollies, platies) do well if I keep Wondershells in those tanks just about all the time.

For plants, like I said, Water Sprite is like a weed in a wet summer for me. I have it in all 4 of my tanks. It's great, too, because it can be used as a floating plant or planted. (I use little river stones to weigh it down by the roots when I want it planted.) 

Java Fern and Java Moss, although they grow slowly, do well in my tetra tank. And I have several pots (little clear Pyrex dishes) of Cryptocoryne Wendtii that I use fertilizer tabs with that have done well for quite a while now in my Platy/Corydoras tank.

I'm also trying some Anubias Barteri that I've never had before. I got it not too long ago. It's a slow grower too. The jury's still out on it, but so far, so good.

Like I said earlier, Vallisneria will NOT grow for me. I'm presently trying some Saggitaria. It's looking okay, but it's not taking off either.

Don't know if any of this will help you. For plants, my advice is just try a few things here and there, and don't buy too much of it until you find out if it likes your water and light conditions.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Carolina Guy

[Mychala]

I've experimented with a brita pitcher before and it made me have ph swings. I wouldn't recommend it. Thats probably why she's needing the baking soda. 

[Pekitivey]

I don't add ferts to many nano tanks as a test (swords, stems, Java fern, Anubis's) I'm not saying what I do is good as it's too soon to tell but I like to over feed all my tanks (especially my guppy tank) and then I've got panda Cory's and snails to pick up the left overs. My hope is that everyone gets what they need including the plants. (I've got hard water but no idea what is in there only that it's full of calcium)  I found so far that my nitrates tend to be higher than when I didn't feed so heavy. I try my best to keep them below 40ppm and so far so good. Guppy's thriving. Paradise fish and dwarf frogs thriving. Plants looking pretty good now (some still recovering from a rescale) 

 

Basically I hope to over feed to give plants more than enough and hope the "clean up crew" do their bit

[Pekitivey]

2 hours ago, Mychala said:

I've experimented with a brita pitcher before and it made me have ph swings. I wouldn't recommend it. Thats probably why she's needing the baking soda. 

I have been thinking about this since I read it. I have very hard water with lots of calcium. And if I use the water straight from my tap in the kettle the element gets super crusty with calcium deposits. So I use a Britta to filter the water for the kettle.

With me so far?

So by removing the calcium you remove the buffer..... Hence the PH swings. 

Crushed coral or wonder shells would help this as they slowly release calcium and stuff back into the water, if you were to continue using the Britta. Or just get the fish used to the tap water and use some dechlorinator.

[DaveSamsell]

11 hours ago, FishObsessed said:

Ok...I'm trying to mentally sort out the advice I received from PetSmart today so I thought I'd run it by you guys and see....this worker there seems very experienced, multiple tanks,showed me a picture of her planted tank and it look amazing...bright green,practically fake looking. I asked her what she "fed" her plants and she literally does nothing for them. She said they're just in gravel or sitting there with plant weights. No liquid fert, no root tabs. She may or may not have a good light for them. Is this possible???? 

She also told me when she does a water change (a minimal % of time due to plants and snails) she uses a brita filter (scratching my head) and always puts in a full tank dose of both API Stress Zyme and API Pimafix. Claims there may be diseases in the water that fish can catch. She also only feeds frozen food. And she uses baking soda in her tank water.

I'm so confused after talking to her bc her planted tank that she showed me a pic of looks great and she literally adds nothing to the water for the plants  Should I take her advice since we are near, or share, the same water source or does this sound as off as it did to me? Maybe I just have a lot to learn. 

@FishObsessed, My understanding of the water filter used may contain a carbon block.  I suspect more is being removed from the water than realized.  I don't use carbon based filters, with my water, for my planted aquariums and don't know who does.

When filling my very first aquarium, I used a similar water filter product, and my plants were not doing great at all.  Granted, everyone's source water can be extremely different often times; varying house to house.    ⛲

Folks have their own way of doing things.  What works for you may not work for someone else, given all the potential variables, etc.  😊

[FishObsessed]

@Pekitiveyi blv the reason she uses a Brita is bc one time after a water change she woke up to her fish having popeye and now she uses a dose of Pimafix everytime she adds water to the tank. 

As far as ph, the tap water here has virtually nothing in it.....my kh might even be zero. I have maaaybe some gh and low ph.  When I mentioned the tap water, that's when she mentioned the baking soda. I prefer crushed coral in the substrate and have a WonderShell but it has made such a difference in my parameters that might not be totally necessary. I might just switch to adding the coral into my hob and leaving it out of the substrate.  Although I honestly would prefer to have fish that can adjust, or like, my tap water and just add dechlorinator. But how many fish out there don't need any hardness in their water ya know? I have only a 38 gallon. I keep thinking angelfish. 

Anyway, that's some of my deductions as to why she does it that way.

18 minutes ago, Pekitivey said:

just get the fish used to the tap water and use some dechlorinator.

The last non-chain fish store I went to had crushed coral in the substrate of many of their tanks, so I know this region is lacking in water parameters. His discus, gold balloon ram, and rummy nose tetra tank didn't however. I'm originally from KY and our water there water pretty optimal, mid-range in ph and somewhat hard. When I got my tank in May I added platies and emerald green corys, and then later tiger barbs. All my Cory's died after I got the tiger barbs. And all my fish since then at one point or another have acted off (flashing etc). In KY it seemed almost anything I tried would thrive. But here they seem finicky. So I want to get either really hardy fish or fish that can adapt to my tap like you said. I know that's a long response! It's just been frustrating to me to not have them THRIVE no matter what I do and to feel like I picked the wrong fish lol

[FishObsessed]

@DaveSamsellvery true. I moved to NC a couple years ago from KY, and my tap is drastically different here. I've only had my tank since May so I'm still trying to figure out what even works for me lol

[Mychala]

@Pekitivey its been years since i messed with it and im trying to remember fully....so  my tap water comes out at 8.4 its liquid rock and I wanted to get it lower for a betta, every betta I had gotten had troubles with swim bladder and I wondered if the was the problem. (This is where the you shouldn't chase ph advice comes in) The ph out of the brita after use in my water was a flat 6. (I'm betting it comes out different for different tap water). I thought I could mix the two to get a ph about 7 and use that. So thats what I did. It didn't work, 24 hours later the ph in my tank was back up to 8.4 and the massive swing caused issues. I think it killed the fish I can't remember now. I do currently use fluval stratum in with my betta and it knocks the ph down to 7.4. I age the water in a bucket with stratum so we don't have swings. And my betta finally has no swim bladder issues.  

[Antichton]

I would be careful with adding baking soda to your tank. Baking soda is made up of sodium and bicarbonate ions. While the bicarbonate ions should be beneficial for regulating KH and stabilizing pH, the sodium ions are not.

As far as I know, no freshwater plant or animal will uptake a significant amount of sodium ions from the water directly. If one isn't careful to account for evaporation, there can be a build up of sodium ions in the water, which will probably have a negative effect on your plants and fish. A safer way to increase KH is to use a wonder shell or crushed coral which will dissolve slowly into the water. 

[Pekitivey]

33 minutes ago, Mychala said:

@Pekitivey its been years since i messed with it and im trying to remember fully....so  my tap water comes out at 8.4 its liquid rock and I wanted to get it lower for a betta, every betta I had gotten had troubles with swim bladder and I wondered if the was the problem. (This is where the you shouldn't chase ph advice comes in) The ph out of the brita after use in my water was a flat 6. (I'm betting it comes out different for different tap water). I thought I could mix the two to get a ph about 7 and use that. So thats what I did. It didn't work, 24 hours later the ph in my tank was back up to 8.4 and the massive swing caused issues. I think it killed the fish I can't remember now. I do currently use fluval stratum in with my betta and it knocks the ph down to 7.4. I age the water in a bucket with stratum so we don't have swings. And my betta finally has no swim bladder issues.  

Glad to hear you found the balance. I've also noticed that the four week timer thing on the Britta filter is useless. I only get about 2 weeks before the filter clogs and becomes useless. So for me anyway there is to many variables to get it right. 

[Mychala]

@Pekitivey yes! I dont pay attention to it either and now I'm wondering how the water parameters would have changed with the age of the filter as well. 

[Ben Ellison]

They make a camping water purifier that i believe  would be mush better. You would probably  need to add minerals back with salty shrimp or equilibrium. But from what I've heard it removes most everything 

[Pekitivey]

8 minutes ago, Ben Ellison said:

They make a camping water purifier that i believe  would be mush better. You would probably  need to add minerals back with salty shrimp or equilibrium. But from what I've heard it removes most everything 

I bet that's true. You could achieve that. But I also feel for the person that needs to and willing to go to that much effort, they could probably set up an RO unit with the same effort. That's assuming they actually needed one. In most cases I bet people who do it.. .. don't need it. 

[Bill]

Nine out of ten times, you'll get three different opinions if you ask three different experts in local shops. This is especially true if you tell them that the other guy said to do X, they'll tell you why doing Y is so much better! Likewise if you told them an expert on YouTube said it.
 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Bill

[Atomicfish]

Some people and some pet smarts know what they are doing and some have no clue. so any advice I would take with a grain of salt. Here where I live we have a Petco and the people there are pretty helpful in the fish department.