hello all... come have a look at my newly establishing 20gal planter aquarium!

[wilkyb]

I'm a new member to the forum; I'm just starting out with establishing my first proper planted tank. I plan on adding mainly anubias, as well as a plant that can absorb more nitrites if there happens to be a spike, like hornwort. I'll plan to add guppies and ghost shrimp, too, once things are all nice and dandy.

attached are two photos: one photos is of the aquarium, and another is a photo of a test swab of GH, KH, pH, and nitrite & nitrate levels

The water from the tap in my city has a GH and KH of around 180ppm. As far as I understand it, this means I will have to add more ammonia to the tank in order develop the beneficial bacteria that my aquatic life needs to thrive. Is this accurate? I've added a good hunk of fish food to the aquarium in the past 2 days. How long does it take for ammonia to be processed into nitrite via filtration?

Thanks ahead of time! I'm open ears to pointers in particular to establishing an aquarium like I am now.

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by wilkyb

[FrozenFins]

A few things:

-Don't chase your water parameters, Just make sure they are stable

-I see your using the API Test strips. In mine and many others experiance they are not as accurate. I would suggest either the tetra test strips or the API Master Test Kit.

-When I was cycling one of my tanks I threw in food every day and it took about a week to cycle. I usaully like to get 20ppm of nitrates before adding fish. Keep in mind I did this method in a 40 gallon. I dont know how big your tank is but it could take longer unless you decide to add more fish food.

Edited January 16, 2021 by James Black

[wilkyb]

7 hours ago, James Black said:

-Don't chase your water parameters, Just make sure they are stable

-I see your using the API Test strips. In mine and many others experiance they are not as accurate. I would suggest either the tetra test strips or the API Master Test Kit.

I think the API test strips simply don't provide enough information for a new cycling tank. Nitrites and nitrates will be showing up in the following days/weeks from now. Having an ammonia count on this test strip would take it from a B grade device to an A- in my books.

Would you reccomend I include plants in my tank now that it's been in cycle for 4-5 days? There is plenty of ammonia from the fish food I've been putting into the aquarium. It's only a matter of time until I have higher nitrite levels.

Edited January 17, 2021 by wilkyb

[Colu]

I tryed API test strips not very accurate in my experience 

[FrozenFins]

11 hours ago, wilkyb said:

I think the API test strips simply don't provide enough information for a new cycling tank. Nitrites and nitrates will be showing up in the following days/weeks from now. Having an ammonia count on this test strip would take it from a B grade device to an A- in my books.

Would you reccomend I include plants in my tank now that it's been in cycle for 4-5 days? There is plenty of ammonia from the fish food I've been putting into the aquarium. It's only a matter of time until I have higher nitrite levels.

I have put plants in my tanks way before they cyceld. So yes I would reccomend to get plants.

[OceanTruth]

That's going to be a pretty sweet looking planter pond when it gets running!

[wilkyb]

5 hours ago, OceanTruth said:

That's going to be a pretty sweet looking planter pond when it gets running!

update:

I've attached anubias conogensis & berteri to the driftwood, and then planted in the gravel near are 2 groups of 3 stems of Egeria Densa. All from a local business nearby where I live. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by wilkyb

[wilkyb]

a little update:

Some bad news! I bought 6 female guppies and 3 male guppies from a local fish store in my city. Despite the water parameters being crystal clear in my aquarium for the past 2 weeks, all of the store-bought guppies I've introduced to this aquarium have died!

As tragic as this may be, I think the reason was simply due to the shop not keeping their fish in good condition. The fish were quite beautiful, but I saw that the conditions were quite disgusting; I took a gamble. I was surprised with how quickly the sickness in the males took affect, and then the following week did the females start dropping like flies as well.

I removed the fish that died as they perished to control the spread of disease

What I'll be doing for my next purchase of livestock will be to introduce guppy fry rather than adults. I think the adults were accustomed to the environment they belonged to. The water in this environment was pretty filthy. After transferring them to my clean aquarium I think it was just too much for their immune systems to acclimate to.

Now I've just 2 guppy fry from my previous tank just swimming around lol. Hopefully they are male/female, but I reckon I'll go find myself some guppy fry to introduce to the tank, and see if that works out better.

Edited February 2, 2021 by wilkyb

[Levi_Aquatics]

Looking good! Cant wait to see the progress!