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first freshwater aquarium

4K views 18 replies 5 participants last post by  Geomancer 
#1 ·
I've been a reefkeeper forever, but wanted a simple desktop aquarium.

Here is my first attempt. So that I don't make the sames mistakes any noob makes, I would love some input.

 
#3 ·
it's my tank that was shot in this video, was set up this past sunday on my desk.

I did some preliminary research, but I wanted to make sure I don't screw this up from the start. I used this substrate


and someone said to use "root tabs" but I don't know what those are.
 
#4 ·
Wow you must be going for something nice. All that stuff is for well-planted tanks. Could you tell us what fish you have and how many? Plants? As well as your water parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, hardness)? What filter you are running, tank size?

BTW, beautiful cinematography.
 
#5 ·
thanks!

oh boy...ok, I'll try.

the tank is about 5Gallons, I have 2 guppies and pleco. I had 2 shrimp, but one is dead, the guppies wouldn't leave it alone (I didn't know).

I have no idea what the plants are.....

I have not measured pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or hardness.I use ro/di water. The substrate I picked was by total luck, didn't know it was good :)
 
#6 ·
Root tabs are pretty much as they sound. They are tablets, usually gel caps, that are filled with time release fertilizer that are inserted at the base of plants into the substrate. You can get them commercially or buy them from someone who makes them, usually with Osmocote, or you could make them yourself. The ferts. are supposed to last several months.

You can see them here...

The Planted Tank Forum
 
#7 ·
Root tabs are pretty much as they sound. They are tablets, usually gel caps, that are filled with time release fertilizer that are inserted at the base of plants into the substrate. You can get them commercially or buy them from someone who makes them, usually with Osmocote, or you could make them yourself. The ferts. are supposed to last several months.

You can see them here...

The Planted Tank Forum
tyvm!
 
#8 ·
Do you still have the packaging the plants came in? I think I saw some java fern in there. Only some plants need root tabs. Java fern is not a rooted plant, so it won't need tabs. I try to stick away from rooted plants, but with your substrate you probably could. There is a whole section in the fish profiles devoted to plants. Or you could take some pictures over the guys in the plants forum. I only do low-tech setups, so I really couldn't help you too much there.

For the fish: I would see if you can return the pleco and get another guppy. Most species of pleco grow huge! What you have is a baby. If you don't want any baby guppies be sure you only have one gender of guppies. Do you have a heater for the little guys? They are a tropical fish and like higher than room temp temperatures.

You really need to test the ammonia. Because you just set up the tank it is likely to have an ammonia spike which is very harmful to your fish. The plants will help take the ammonia out of the water, but you should still be doing daily water changes if you just set up the tank.
 
#9 ·
Agree, with that substrate you won't need root tabs. A liquid fert once a week will help though, esp for the non-substrate plants. I recommend Flourish Comprehensive Supplement; a small bottle will last you months with just this tank, you use very little, about 1/4 teaspoon once a week in a 5g tank.

You should find out your water parameters, meaning hardness and pH. For your tap water, from the water supply folks. You mention using RO water, is there a reason? Are you mixing it with tap water?

And, welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.

Byron.
 
#10 ·
Thanks Byron.

I use RO/DI water because I already have it for my reef tanks. Is there a reason not to use it? Wouldn't it have chlorine in it? and nitrates? (at least that is why we do that in SW).

By hardness, are you guys talking about alkalinity? Sorry for to basic questions, I just know nothing :)

If you ever have any saltwater questions, I'm your guy.
 
#11 ·
Most of us use just use tap water that we condition with chemicals to remove the chlorine. Nitrates aren't as big of a problem in freshwater if you do your weekly water changes. The most trouble they will give you is algae blooms. I've heard different things, but the general idea sounds like anything under 40ppm is okay for fish. Some are more sensitive to it, some less.

If you have test that test for GH and KH, those are the readings that Byron is talking about. I think I've seen reef test kits that include those. You could also look for a local water quality report; they will have hardness and pH and phosphate and all kinds of things. But we are only looking for pH and hardness.
 
#14 ·
When setting up a new aquarium you should test every day, but once you have an established aquarium you only need to test once a week.

API has some good test kits. The API master freshwater kit is commonly found in stores and is pretty good. If you go online you might be able to find some higher-end stuff.
 
#15 ·
Just to clarify on the testing question. Once you know the hardness of your tap water, that is it for hardness, as it is not going to shift in the aquarium unless you do something to deliberately affect the hardness. You can find out the GH (general hardness) and KH (Alkalinity) from your water supply [people, many have a website or they can tell you directly.

Tests of the aquarium water as Izzy said should be more regular depending upon this and that. Initially, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate need to be monitored until the tank has cycled. [You should test the tap water alone for each of these once, just to ascertain if any are present; there are ways to deal with them if they are, depending upon the numbers.] The pH should also be checked, it will initially be the same as the tap water, but biological processes in the aquarium can affect pH over time so it is wise to know how this plays out.

Once cycled, periodical tests for nitrates (with the "a") and pH are all you should normally need to do, just to ensure things are stable.

Byron.
 
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