Fishkeeper1010 Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 Hi everyone, I have a five gallon aquarium that’s been running for 2.5 years now. I cycled it in the first month then after that I’ve only kept a betta as well as shrimps and snails. After he unfortunately passed away, I got a honey gourami as well as a trio of guppies for this tank, they have been in living in the tank for 2 months now and are doing good. I didn’t thought about water testing kits before but I got some recently and every time I test it, there was no nitrates in the water (no ammonia or nitrite as well) I though a healthy tank should have some nitrates in it though. I do have Java ferns and hornwort in the tank and it’s run by a very dim desk lamp. I don’t dose fertilisers. Is it normal to have no nitrates or Should I start dosing any ferts? Thank you☺️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 If you want more nutrients to be available to your plants, you should dose. Hornwort is great at sucking up nitrate and that also makes it deplete nutrients quite rapidly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper1010 Posted November 11, 2023 Author Share Posted November 11, 2023 Thank you for replying, my light is really dim so the hornwort neither grew or died. It looks green but no growth. I will be getting a nano light which is 6w. Is that enough for a five gallon. Also my tank is on the overstocked side and somehow still no nitrates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 What test kit are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper1010 Posted November 12, 2023 Author Share Posted November 12, 2023 Just some generic Test strips, I’m sure they do work cause I tested nitrates in my local fish stores water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scapexghost Posted November 12, 2023 Share Posted November 12, 2023 Dont fix what aint broke. Dont let a color on a test strip mske you mess with a tank that has been doing well for so long. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted November 12, 2023 Share Posted November 12, 2023 On 11/10/2023 at 5:16 PM, Fishkeeper1010 said: I didn’t thought about water testing kits before but I got some recently and every time I test it, there was no nitrates in the water (no ammonia or nitrite as well) I though a healthy tank should have some nitrates in it though. I do have Java ferns and hornwort in the tank and it’s run by a very dim desk lamp. I don’t dose fertilisers. Is it normal to have no nitrates or Should I start dosing any ferts? That's awesome news. Your bioload will go up over time with that specific floating plant and it's ability to grow really quickly. The tank is setup really well for success! I would find an all-in-one fert and dose that once a month. You won't need root tabs or anything else, just the liquid fert weekly. Once the ferns get a bit more grown in you might have a secondary dosing of iron or potassium, just once a week. For now, for the time being, just an all-in-one. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 On 11/10/2023 at 8:49 PM, Fishkeeper1010 said: Thank you for replying, my light is really dim so the hornwort neither grew or died. It looks green but no growth. I will be getting a nano light which is 6w. Is that enough for a five gallon. Also my tank is on the overstocked side and somehow still no nitrates. You are keeping low light plants so your nano light will likely be more than enough. I would argue that four fish, some shrimp, snails, healthy plants, and no nitrates is not overstocked. For now at least, you have a balanced tank. Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper1010 Posted November 13, 2023 Author Share Posted November 13, 2023 (edited) Hi, thanks for replying! Even though the tank is balanced, I feel like the plants are not doing so well. The hornwort doesn’t look very healthy. I have guppies so ideally I wanted to have a whole tank full of plants which is not happening right now.😅 Edited November 13, 2023 by Fishkeeper1010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Try some EasyGreen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 On 11/13/2023 at 4:32 PM, Fishkeeper1010 said: Hi, thanks for replying! Even though the tank is balanced, I feel like the plants are not doing so well. The hornwort doesn’t look very healthy. I have guppies so ideally I wanted to have a whole tank full of plants which is not happening right now.😅 I think your new light will be key. What make/model did you get? When does it arrive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper1010 Posted November 14, 2023 Author Share Posted November 14, 2023 I’m using a clip desk light at the moment. But what I’m intending to get is a 6w nano light. I feel like lack of nutrients is the main problem as there is zero nitrate in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted November 14, 2023 Share Posted November 14, 2023 I've got one of these on a 10 gallon cube: https://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Aquarium-Adjustable-Saltwater-Freshwater/dp/B0B5G53174 (F20 Freshwater) It works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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