My first planted tank (i.e. Help me not shipwreck this thing.)

[Martin]

Hello all!

I'm diving into my first planted tank (10g) and I THINK I'm on the right track but would love input.   Water parameters are my big concern. 

1.  Before starting, I tested the water right out of the tap:  pH 7.0, dKH 10, dGH 2.7.  I was surprised as I live in a part of Texas known for its hard water.  I have no water softening devices and my faucets/shower stalls all show the hallmark hard water stains.  I thought I was doing something wrong, so I retested several times over several days and the results were all the same.  I even tested the water from different faucets.  As a last check, I took a sample of the water to my local PetSmart and they confirmed I wasn't crazy/dumb/blind.  Very well, so I started...

2.  I put down Fluval Stratum substrate and treated the water with Seachem Prime and API Quickstart and allowed the tank to start cycling with some bio balls in the filter for good measure. 

3.  After a week, I retested at pH 7.0, dKH 4.4, dGH 1.2.  I assume the substrate was acidifying the water, causing the dKH to buffer and drop.  At this time, I boiled some dragon stones and 2 pieces of driftwood and added them to the tank.

4.  Three days later, I retested at pH 7.2(ish), dKH 2.1, dGH practically zero.  I'm guessing it's the driftwood that cased that drop in dKH, but I don't really know what is eating up GH.

I'm now at the present time and my plan is:

1.  Re-mineralize the water with some Seachem Equilibrium and (if needed) Seachem Alkaline Buffer to restore GH and KH respectively until levels are appropriate.  (Actually, what are good target levels for GH/KH for beginner plants like amazon swords, cryptocoryns, and bicopas?)

2.  Balance any remaining pH issues with some Seachem pH magic potion (lol, don't remember the name).

3.  Add some plants in about a week assuming the water has balanced out.

Is my thought process okay?  Also, is it normal to own practically every Seachem product they make?  I think I've handed over a significant chunk of change to them this month.  I promise they are not paying me to mention their products every other line!  Thank you all in advance!

 

Martin

[FrozenFins]

It seems that your over complicating this whole idea. Don't chase your water parameters, the biggest thing is that you keep your parameters stable. I don't usually mesure dGH or dKH so I dont think that would make as big of an impact to your plants as you may be thinking it will. lol, I only use seachem prime and flourish (all though I'm not a big fan of flourish). I would suggest to use the Aquarium Co-op Easy green for plant fertilizer all though.

Edited January 15, 2021 by James Black

[Martin]

Thanks James,  I've been reading everyone's advice on similar posts about maintaining a stable water environment being key, but I guess my main question is: Is it okay that "stable" where I live is on such an extreme in terms of water hardness?  At some point, I do want to have fish in the aquarium as well and that's kind of what I'm trying to plan ahead for.  I had difficulties on my previous unplanted aquarium in which the fish seemed to all display the typical symptoms of soft water issues, namely the lethargy, not feeding much, and loss of color.  

I had tried to up the GH and KH for this reason, but at this time, it seems the levels won't budge even after dosing per the instructions.  I'm kind of confused at this point.  Thanks in advance.

[Colu]

Rather than add chemical treatment to buffer I use crushed oyster shell in my filter to slowly  rise my GH and kH   buffer my water 

[Martin]

Thanks Colu!  Do you have a particular brand you recommend?

[Colu]

No I just get a bag of crushed oyster shells from my lfs I start off puting in a small amount and gradually increase till I get the level I won't

Edited January 18, 2021 by Colu

[redmare]

I have similar parameters and I use some crushed coral in my tanks to buffer it and make sure that pH stays stable. A neutral pH is awesome though, so many options! Do you know what kind of fish you want to keep? You might have a harder time with livebearers, but south american fish should generally love your water 🙂

[Martin]

Thanks @redmare!  I was going to go for something simple... guppies or tetras.  I've been doing well with ghost shrimp and nerite snails and plan to move a few of them over too.

Do you guys have thoughts on Wonder Shells vs. crushed coral or are they about the same?

Edited January 19, 2021 by Martin

[David Ellsworth]

I agree with the above person. Don't chase water parameters. Let your tank water settle naturally. Having tap water come out near 7 pH is a blessing. I live where my tap is about 8.2 out of the tap at times and between 550 and 730 ppm TDS, it varies. It also has chloramine, so ammonia, so small water changes for me.

 

The longer you have your tank up and going the more pH will creep down to a balance with your organics in the tank, which is great for plants and many types of fish.  Then with your water change schedule it will even out. If you add chemicals to your water to get certain pH, or hardness then you will have wildly changing parameters which is stressful for your tank inhabitants. Let your tank do it's thing and don't monkey with it unless you start seeing pH drop super low like 4.0 or something. 7 or even a little lower is great for fish, crushed coral will help even things out if your hardness and pH start getting real low. Even if you get fish that like soft water and you have hard, or vice versa, they can get used to it if it is stable. Fast changes are bad. 

 

Wondershells work great, but if you have really soft water it will dissolve fast  and you'll need to keep adding it (so every month or two). You can add it as needed I suppose. Crushed coral can be used in the substrate or put in a media bag and placed in your filter (hang on back, behind your sponge filter, in sump, etc) water flow near it will help it work a little better. Crushed coral dissolves slower and doesn't put out as much into the tank as wonder shells will. So less chance for things to get overdosed.  

[Maggie]

I agree with James Black - stability is more important than trying to chase down numbers. 

[Martin]

Thanks so much guys.  I'll stop being a lab rat then.  Appreciate all of the experience and patience!

[Jeff]

Adding plants is never a bad thing. They'll definitely help; even if they're slow growers.

Hate to sound like a broken record, but don't chase parameters....other than 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites of course 🙂

For reference, my Nitrates range between 80 - 160, and everything in my tank is thriving. 

 

[Martin]

Thanks for all the input everyone!  I've purchased a bit of crushed coral and just and a couple questions.  I was planning on placing it downstream from the cartridge in my filter, but because it is a 10 gallon tank, its not a very large space and there are already some bio balls in a mesh bag.  Can I put the coral in the same bag?  I'm assuming it would be fine.  Also, due to space, I was really only able to squeeze in a little over 2 tablespoons of coral.  Is there such thing as a "correct amount" that I need to put in?  I'm really wanting to avoid mixing the coral in with the substrate as I am very fond of the all black substrate look.  I could always just dump a mesh bag of it into the tank itself, but wanted to avoid that as well if possible.

[Colu]

No I just add a bit at a time and test till I get the desired affect