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I set up a new planted tank today, currently no fish are in it. I’ve watched YouTube videos and read as many blogs as I could find. But still trying to figure out what to do now that it’s set up and I’ve tested the water.

I have a 5.5 gallon tank. I chose to go with fluval stratum planted substrate for the back of the tank where the plants are located and then put smooth river stones up front with 0.5lb of crushed coral mixed into them.
 

I planted 2 Amazon swords, 1 red melon sword, and I have 1 Anubia on a small lava rock along with a marimo moss ball. I also have the aquarium co-op nano sponge filter and their recommended stingray plant light. I have the sponge filter set high to increase surface water agitation for gas exchange as I dosed the water with Seachem prime, roughly 2mL. I used our tap water as it’s not overly chlorinated but lacks a lot of minerals. I also put in two root tabs when I planted the Amazon swords and quickly gave up as those popped out so much, I’m sure lots of the fertilizer made it into the water column. I dosed the water with a pump of easy green liquid fertilizer not thinking about the root tabs I fought with earlier and just now realizing I probably could’ve kept the liquid fertilizer out. 
 

Water parameters were tested around 2 hours after everything was set up. The water is still cloudy from the substrate. I’m looking at getting another betta with a snail or two. The first betta died last weekend and I had more lessons with that regarding water testing and when water changes are not necessary than I ever expected. So now, I’m looking to make sure I have the pH neutral (the last tank it was way too acidic), nitrates established (my last tank never got to cycle because I changed too much water too often), and getting KH and GH stable before adding any fish to ensure the plants stay healthy and the fish are being added to a healthy tank.

1.) What is an expected timeframe for a new tank to stabilize based on today’s additions? I don’t want to decide to add something or change water when it hasn’t been long enough for everything to kind of work together (like the crushed coral and the plants getting established).

2.) Based on current water test, would you recommend adding anything to help the pH?

3.) I have bottled API nitrifying bacteria starter but did not add it to the tank. Should I leave it out or is it necessary to add it for beneficial bacteria growth for the fish?

4.) I set a timer for 1 minute and this picture is what showed. For the KH having some green, how would you interpret that?

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Your pH may be too low for a snail as they should be kept above 7. Bettas are not as sensitive to pH levels as long as they are consistent, so you will want to be sure whatever pH you end up with is stable. 

I'm new to planted tanks so I'm not an expert, but, I think if you are using Stratum, you might not need the root tabs for a while as it contains nutrients. 

I know there are different views on Nitrifying bacteria but I still use it when setting up a new tank since the worst it can do is nothing. I would go ahead and use it.

I don't think the KH will change much if you just set up the tank with your tap water, so I would still consider it "low"

Are you ghost feeding this tank to help get some ammonia started?

It will be exciting to see your aquarium! It's a fun journey. 

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I haven’t ghost fed the tank, just added the bottled bacteria yesterday, and I am already getting a color change in the strip for nitrates. The pH and KH are both still low but the pH seems to be improving.  I want to get it to stabilize around 7 or higher, and there’s a lot of advice on how to do it. I don’t want it perfectly at 7, just don’t want it to be 6.4 either. So I’ll just hold off on getting snails until it’s stabilized in a more neutral range, and most likely forego chemical buffers and just give the crushed coral time in the tank since that seems to be a slow and steady choice and will keep it maintained without excessive testing and buffering to chase a pH level. I don’t want to put snails in a tank that’ll weaken their shells. 
 

I’m using aquarium co-op multi-test strips, and I tried testing an unopened bottle of purified water thinking the pH would be 7. And was about to change 1.5gal of the tank water to get the pH up, but the bottled water was somehow lower than my tank’s current pH. I have a more specific pH test kit coming, but I was hoping to just start using purified water for water changes to help maintain the neutral pH instead of constantly adding my tap water and creating pH crashes. Would the brand of water make a difference or could it just be the test strips giving inaccurate pH readings therefore I don’t really have a pH issue?

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I did not say add snails now, I said you can start thinking of adding snails/ottos when you see algea start to grow. As for your kh/ph, if you want to speed things up (and since you have no live stock) you might consider sprinkling a SMALL amount of baking soda in the water. This will dissolve quickly in the water buffering your tank as you wait for the crush coral to dissolve. 

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On 2/19/2022 at 11:32 AM, JoeQ said:

I did not say add snails now, I said you can start thinking of adding snails/ottos when you see algea start to grow. As for your kh/ph, if you want to speed things up (and since you have no live stock) you might consider sprinkling a SMALL amount of baking soda in the water. This will dissolve quickly in the water buffering your tank as you wait for the crush coral to dissolve. 

Right, I understood what you meant about waiting on the snails. They need food and their food is algae. I didn’t take into account the pH though, so if the pH is still too low for snails after algae starts growing, I’d still need to figure out the pH and if it’s even an accurate result on the strips. 
 

The KH is starting to slowly elevate, so I’m giving it a week before I start any buffers. With the little experience that I have, I’m afraid of destroying the plants by adding anything else right now. There’s 1 Amazon sword with a leaf that looks like it’s starting to melt and my red melon sword and Anubia also have leaves that may be melting too. 

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On 2/19/2022 at 4:01 PM, JoeQ said:

Kh is linked to ph, as your kh rises so will the ph. I think when my kh was on the lower end of 40, my ph was still about 6.8~7.0

okay, and KH will slowly increase due to the crushed coral therefore increasing the pH slowly. I’m excited seeing the tank at least starting to cycle and showing nitrates. Now it’s just a slow and steady for the KH and pH. Would a realistic expectation for a rise in KH and pH from just the crushed coral show over the course of 2+ weeks?

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Im not sure on time frame. I had a crash course on kh/ph, think of kh as a shield around your ph. Once the acids in your tank eat through your kh, then your ph gets eaten... In my case my kh was extremely low, as well as my ph.. A day or so later it bottomed to the point of my angel fish being at deaths door! As a last resort, I used a dusting of baking soda about once every 15 minutes till my anglefish recovered. Then I took all the wood out of my tank because it buffers kh/ph down. The next day I made it to the aquarium store and got some corals (btw crushing them sucks). Over the next few days I still sprinkled baking soda till I awaited for my crush coral to arive. I think once the CC arrived it took about a week to buffer me from a low 80, to an 80+ kh

But as far  as the baking soda it's quick acting! Too much in a too short of a time frame will kill your fish from the ph swinging up too fast! 

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I ended up getting my betta yesterday, I spent about 1.5 hours acclimating him even though the water in his cup and the tank water weren’t very different aside from temperature. He’s adjusted well, good appetite and energy. I’m trying to decide if I need to do a water change tomorrow since it’s a newly planted tank, a new fish, and I’m now seeing progress with the KH and pH. The first test this afternoon showed a slight change in nitrites at about a 1ppm but not quite there. Since I noticed a change, I tested the ammonia and that was at 0ppm. Nitrates were around 25ppm. The test tonight showed nitrates have increased and the nitrite was definitely at 1ppm. And the KH is now in the 40-80 ppm range and the pH is finally looking closer to 6.8, which I’m excited about. Would a 10% water change still be necessary with nitrites at a 1, even with the ammonia level at 0? I’m afraid of zonking the pH and KH now that it’s finally showing progress on day 4 and then also shocking the new fish and plants. Isn’t the danger with rising nitrites causing rising ammonia or is there more to it than that?

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If it were me I would but id do bigger than 10%. If you are worried about shocking your tank & fish from the kh/ph change (which I don't believe will be significant) I would slowly refill with an airhose siphoning the fresh water into the tank. Of course others most likely will provide a better insight on the nitrogen cycle. I only have a basic understanding of it.

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Okay. It’s a 5.5gal tank, I have about 2L of purified water warming up now with an air stone in it since that’s the biggest container I have for the clean water. About 25% would be 5.5L, would that be enough? Seems the ammonia level is now between 0-0.25 ppm (not quite yellow but not quite green) while the nitrites are still at 1ppm. 

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If you have ammona, id definitely do a big water change, Probably 50%, maybe daily. Also Fyi: im an American, we, as a people can not handle the metric system!!! All kidding aside, I think the important thing at this point is to add your water slowly, you do not want to shock your little guy with temp or by ph. In the future you might want to invest in some water conditioner and use tap water. Since it is usually very consistent (in my case) when it comes to water parameters.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge than myself will chime in. 

 

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Thank you!! I’m an American as well, just have more comfort with liters because of my profession. Anything else, I can’t do metric either. 😆 I put him in a 1.5 gal tank with a small heater and the thermometer while I do the tank change. It may have ended up being roughly 50% because I wanted to get as much of the silt off the decor, plants, and rocks from my learning experience with the plant substrate. He’s actually been in the smaller tank for about 30-40 minutes and his black color appears to be coming back though his top fin is still clamped. He’s been curious the entire time, not even trying to hide from me. I used the water from the tank before starting the change, so hopefully he’s just overwhelmed by the 5.5gal versus that small cup he was in. Just waiting on the temperature to come back up before putting him back in. 

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@Bethany92 ~ Let me see if I have this correct: Ammonia .25ppm, Nitrites 1ppm, nitrates 0ppm (before your water change).

I don't know how much you know about the nitrogen cycle, so forgive me if you understand better than I think you do :classic_happy:

Ammonia (toxic) is converted to Nitrites (kinda toxic) which is then converted to Nitrates (harmless unless very high). 

Prime will neutralize any Ammonia and Nitrites for 24 hours and keep them from harming your Betta while your nitrifying bacteria are building up. You can dose Prime every 24 house if you need to. You will want to keep checking your Ammonia and Nitrites to make sure they are not getting high and poisoning your fish while you are establishing your cycle. You will want to do smaller water changed to help reduce Ammonia, Nitrites and high Nitrates, but don't change too much water or disturb your tank substrate, filter, etc. too much as you want to keep as much of the beneficial bacteria as you can while keeping the water clean for your Betta while you are establishing your tank. And you don't want to stress your Betta either.

I can try my best to answer any questions you have with cycling your tank. As far as raising pH, I don't have much knowledge there.

How is your Betta doing now?

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Well, hopefully your little guy make it through all this well. Most people like to do a fishless cycle because its easier, with fish its a little bit more involved but you should learn more about the cycle doing it this way. I just try to remember it this way; plants eat ates (as in nitrates) which makes it easy to remember. 

Keep is posted! Good luck! 

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I’m not quite sure what to do besides wait and monitor the water parameters. His fins are clamped still, but he’s active with an appetite (will only eat brine shrimp, won’t even give the pellets his time). 
 

right now the KH is 53 and GH is 125 (I started using the chemical tests versus strips). The pH on the strips is maybe 6.5 (I have a chemical test for pH coming tomorrow). Nitrates are 0ppm and nitrites are 0ppm. Ammonia is 0ppm. I did a 25% water change yesterday and used API stress+ for a water conditioner and added bottled bacteria yesterday after the change and again this morning. 
 

Here’s pictures of him today. I’m slightly concerned about his fins. I don’t know if they just look like that from the new environment stress or if now there’s potential fin rot happening. He’s very responsive still, just not as flowing and vibrant as he was at the store Saturday. And he was all black with shimmering blue-green in the light.

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@Bethany92 ~ I keep thinking about your Betta. In reading back through the thread:

On 2/20/2022 at 10:35 PM, Bethany92 said:

The first test this afternoon showed a slight change in nitrites at about a 1ppm but not quite there. Since I noticed a change, I tested the ammonia and that was at 0ppm. Nitrates were around 25ppm. The test tonight showed nitrates have increased and the nitrite was definitely at 1ppm.

On 2/21/2022 at 9:38 AM, Bethany92 said:

Seems the ammonia level is now between 0-0.25 ppm (not quite yellow but not quite green) while the nitrites are still at 1ppm. 

On 2/22/2022 at 2:47 PM, Bethany92 said:

Nitrates are 0ppm and nitrites are 0ppm. Ammonia is 0ppm.

I'm curious where you are in your nitrogen cycle if you had nitrites and nitrates, but now have none? Sunday's 1ppm Nitrites would be a big stress to a Betta and could be the problem with his clamped fins and loss of color. However, yesterday you had no Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates, which would indicate you had no nitrogen cycle going yet, but would be fine for your Betta. Any idea what made the difference in those numbers? 

A rapidly shifting pH could also cause stress, so I'm thinking about that as well, but I know very little about altering pH, KH & GH. I wish I knew more so I could help your little guy. I'd love to see him with color and flowing fins.

 

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I just read through your thread. Don’t panic about the tank not being cycled, but keep an eye on the parameters. I’m guessing you’ve now done some research into the nitrogen cycle and are going to continue with the fish in cycle. It can be safe and easy with one small fish in a 5 gallon. Just make sure your toxins stay low by doing water changes and in about a month (more or less🙂) you’ll be cycled and can add more fish if you want. One thing to keep in mind is that fertilizer will raise Nitrates so the key parameter you’ll be watching out for is your Nitrites falling to zero and staying there. 

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Just a size note - amazon swords are way too large for a 5 gallon; the red flame is border line maxium you want in a 5. This is of course when the plants mature. The red flame is not a bad plant but it is also very slow growing and can be a pit picky. I have one that is nearly 4 years old and it really hasn't grown much in 4 years; the amazon sword - if they like your environment will easily reach 20+ inches in height and 12 to 18 inch in width. They are not small plants. I have 2 in my 120 that take up most of the right third of the aquairum.

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On 2/23/2022 at 11:28 AM, AndreaW said:

@Bethany92 ~ I keep thinking about your Betta. In reading back through the thread:

I'm curious where you are in your nitrogen cycle if you had nitrites and nitrates, but now have none? Sunday's 1ppm Nitrites would be a big stress to a Betta and could be the problem with his clamped fins and loss of color. However, yesterday you had no Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates, which would indicate you had no nitrogen cycle going yet, but would be fine for your Betta. Any idea what made the difference in those numbers? 

A rapidly shifting pH could also cause stress, so I'm thinking about that as well, but I know very little about altering pH, KH & GH. I wish I knew more so I could help your little guy. I'd love to see him with color and flowing fins.

 

Here’s the timeline: set up the tank on the 17th with no fish and had fertilizer and the fluval substrate for the plants in the tank. By the 18th (next day) nitrates were 10ppm and nitrites were at 0ppm. I added the betta on the 19th, acclimated him to temperature first then slowly increased his water from the cup with equal amount tank water over 1 hour before he was let loose in the tank. On the 20th is when the nitrites increased to 1ppm. I had been using the strip tests. On the 21st, I noticed changes in the ammonia level (chemical test) to 0.25ppm and that’s when we woke up to him being pale with clamped fins. Because of the ammonia change and the change in my betta, I did a 25% water change using bottled purified water, and adding in API stress+ and bottled bacteria. 
 

Today I received the chemical tests for pH. The strips kept reading around 6.4-6.5 (light orange but not dark enough to be considered 6.8). About an hour ago I tested the pH again with the chemical tests. Used both pH and high range pH. It’s actually 7.4 which I suspected something was up with the strips as purified water didn’t even register a pH higher than 6.4. I took pictures of the 3 tests I took from the tank water at the exact same time. So now I’m curious if the nitrates and nitrite levels are even accurate on the strips. I did the KH and GH chemical tests as well and the KH is 53ppm and the GH is 107.4ppm.

 

He’s gotten a bit of color back today, but still no flowing fins. He’s still very curious and eating, swims right up to me while I’m at the tank and tries to explore the syringe when I’m pulling water for tests. Always swimming around the top of the tank, plays with the bubbles from the sponge filter.

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On 2/23/2022 at 1:33 PM, anewbie said:

Just a size note - amazon swords are way too large for a 5 gallon; the red flame is border line maxium you want in a 5. This is of course when the plants mature. The red flame is not a bad plant but it is also very slow growing and can be a pit picky. I have one that is nearly 4 years old and it really hasn't grown much in 4 years; the amazon sword - if they like your environment will easily reach 20+ inches in height and 12 to 18 inch in width. They are not small plants. I have 2 in my 120 that take up most of the right third of the aquairum.

Oh I’m okay with the red melon being a slow grower. I didn’t know they’d get that tall but definitely too big when they’re mature. I guess I’ll replace the Amazon swords with different plants when they’re starting to outgrow my tank. Would they survive a transplant into a different tank by that point?? Thank you for letting me know!

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On 2/23/2022 at 12:12 PM, Patrick_G said:

I just read through your thread. Don’t panic about the tank not being cycled, but keep an eye on the parameters. I’m guessing you’ve now done some research into the nitrogen cycle and are going to continue with the fish in cycle. It can be safe and easy with one small fish in a 5 gallon. Just make sure your toxins stay low by doing water changes and in about a month (more or less🙂) you’ll be cycled and can add more fish if you want. One thing to keep in mind is that fertilizer will raise Nitrates so the key parameter you’ll be watching out for is your Nitrites falling to zero and staying there. 

I didn’t know the fertilizer increased nitrates but that explains the increase almost immediately after setting up the tank, thank you for letting me know! I’ll invest in a nitrite chemical test for better accuracy over the strips. 
 

I’ve seen mixed advice on the water changes - would you recommend about 1/3 of the tank when nitrites and ammonia are increasing?

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You can use the liquid tests for the Ammonia and Nitrite if you want. To a certain degree the exact numbers don’t matter. You’ll want to see Nitrites rise as Ammonia falls and then you’ll see the Nitrite fall to zero. That’s when you’re all clear.  The process takes weeks so patience is your friend. As long as you keep up with the water changes to dilute the toxins your handsome Betta should be just fine.
 

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