new aquarium first water testing

[Ohad]

Hi all ,
I am new to the hobby so excuse me if I am asking silly questions, 

we have a small tank 7.5 gallon for a week now with three kind of live plants:

 Crypt lutea, Green hygrophila and Narrow leaf chain sword.

on the first day I de-chloritized the water and added starters bacteria 

last night did a first water test and found out that well... basically we have water 🙂

P.H 7.0 
ammonia 0
nitrate 0
nitrite  0

I added some easy green after for the first time ,

Now what ? will my plants survive ? what's the next step ? do I need to add fish ?

I wanted to see that the plants are good first .

Thanks and again sorry for the very beginner question there is so much information out there its so confusing  

  

[lefty o]

imo, you have plants, you added bacteria, you could add some fish.

[Bucolic_Buffalo]

As the previous poster said, there is some beneficial bacteria on your plant, especially the rock wool the plants are shipped in.  Did you retain the rock wool and use Easy Planters or are the plants in the substrate? Typically I wait until there is some sign of life in the aquarium (plant growth or algae) before I add fish.

[Ohad]

sadly I did no keep the rock wool, the plants are in the substrate , 

I see some growth but also I see some dead leaves on the bottom . will easy green help that ? 

do I need both easy green and tubes for such small aquarium ?

[devind0446]

First of all, I think its very unlikely that you have 0 of everything...make sure you used your water tester correctly.

Second, you need to really get the tank cycled by giving the bacteria something to eat so it can grow and populate the whole tank and filter. You can do this by just putting in a little bit of fish food each day which will turn into ammonia and nitrite which the bacteria use a food and convert into nitrate completing the nitrogen cycle.

If you haven't already, make sure you are well versed on the nitrogen cycle. Your tank will be ready when you have nitrate but no ammonia or nitrite. At that point you can get fish, feed them, and enjoy them every day!

[Ohad]

I got the API kit all the colors showed zero , I thought it was strange  too but then why would I have ammonia or nitrate if I don't have fish in ?  I though maybe it will be in NYC water ? but nothing it was all 0 

I will try the test again but I followed the instructions very closely and not sure what could I have done wrong 

[devind0446]

Make sure you wait 5 mins to let colors develop and you really gotta shake the heavens out of the nitrate test and nitrate bottle #2.

[Ohad]

will try again 🙂

[lefty o]

test again, but it is very likely your readings are zero. you have plants added, you added a bacteria starter, and you have nothing in the tank producing waste. with the plants, and bacteria starter you basically have an instantly cycled aquarium.

[FishyThoughts]

57 minutes ago, devind0446 said:

I think its very unlikely that you have 0 of everything

It is not unheard of to have water test show all 0’s. It can be done in various ways with about any tank. There’s even setups that only use plants to filter the system and don’t require water changes. 
I setup my 75g with the goal of requiring no water changes due to nitrates. It’s still relatively new, but for a couple months ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all read 0 on water test. I also feed fairly heavy so the guppies breed well and occasionally use some fertilizers to make sure the plants get the nutrients they need. 
 

52 minutes ago, Ohad said:

I thought it was strange  too but then why would I have ammonia or nitrate if I don't have fish in ?  I though maybe it will be in NYC water ?

Unless your using RO water, using RO generally requires adding minerals back into the water, there’s some trace elements in the tap water. And the chloramines are broken done a leave ammonia in the water. You likely had a water test showing all 0’s because the plants consumed the nutrients. The bacteria you put in the tank is commonly used to instantly “cycle” a tank and add fish immediately.
 I’d agree with some previous comments that you can start adding fish. 

[quikv6]

Ohad,

     I have NYC water as well. It is definitely on the soft side, with a PH around 6.8-7.0. There is very minimal KH/buffer as well. I started my tank with livebearers before I really knew my water. I must admit, I doctor the water a bit in order to give them closer to their ideal conditions, and if I had to offer any advice (which I learned the harder way), I would say to find fish that would thrive in the conditions you have right out of the tap.

Good luck!

Edited January 9, 2021 by quikv6

[Ohad]

what fish would that be that can live in 7.5 gallon ?