My new tank setup

[seangee]

I agree on at least 50% water changes. I have 4 tanks and change 75% every week in all of them.
In post #9 you mentioned that your hardness is increasing in your tank. This cannot happen as a result of normal biological processes. Form your photos it seems most likely that the culprit is your substrate releasing calcium into the water. The gravel look like it may contain limestone. Obviously I can't tell from a photo but the colour looks right. Just FWIW fish don't like bright lighting and white substrate is not usually recommended. In time it will also tend to become an algae trap.

If you do decide to keep the substrate (e.g. if you are specifically trying to make your water harder) it is even more important to do regular large water changes to keep the tank water stable. The gravel will continue leaching calcium and your hardness will keep increasing unless you "dilute" it.

 

[mmarx339]

Nitrite is not a gas, it is an ion dissolved in water. It is the anion half of nitrous acid. It will not evaporate; the filter bacteria will convert it into nitrate once they have grown but until then it remains in the water.
Nitrate is also an ion, it is the anion half of nitric acid and nitrate doesn't gas off either.

The OP is doing a plant/silent cycle so they do not need to add a source of ammonia.

Nitrite is not a gas, it is an ion dissolved in water. It is the anion half of nitrous acid. It will not evaporate; the filter bacteria will convert it into nitrate once they have grown but until then it remains in the water.
Nitrate is also an ion, it is the anion half of nitric acid and nitrate doesn't gas off either.

The OP is doing a plant/silent cycle so they do not need to add a source of ammonia.




I missed this part earlier. When you have fish, you need to do water changes of at least 50% every week.

but once “digested” by plants it returns to a nitrogen gas to escape feom the water.




I missed this part earlier. When you have fish, you need to do water changes of at least 50% every week.

But

 

[Salty&Onion]

The fish that i would like to have in my tank are 1xMale Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami, 1xmale betta elephant, half a dozen or more cardinal tetras, 2x bristle nosed catfish.

Hi and welcome to the forum, the problem with this planned stock is that dwarf gouramis are notorious carriers of the Irridovirus, aka DGD and that bettas are not community fish and should not be put with community fish no matter what. Neons need a bigger tank than you have, and the tank ideally should be long for them too as they are very active fish, you can keep 1 bristle nose pleco per tank as they have very high bio load and two males will get territorial.
Look on seriously fish for fish requirements, hope this helps

 

[Essjay]

I missed the fish list earlier

The tank is an AquaOne AquaStyle 620T which is 72 cm long so is fine for cardinals.

Salty&Onion is right about dwarf gouramis, so many of these fish are already infected by the time they reach the shops. Honey gouramis have less health issues and are a good alternative.

Bettas and gouramis should never be kept together in the same tank. They are territorial fish which occupy the same level in the tank. Sooner or later there would be aggression and one or other is likely to end up dead.
Bettas should be kept alone as they are not community fish.

 

[Byron]

Something in post #17 needs clarifying. Nitrate occurring from NOB (nitrite oxidizing bacteria/archaea) will remain in the water as nitrate ions until it is either driven off as nitrogen gas or utilized by decomposition bacteria in the substrate. Plants to not take up much if any nitrate (thinking here of natural or low-tech planted tanks, not high-tech) and they cannot gas it off so far as I know.

Moving to the other issue, I agree with essjay and others that use of so many chemicals is detrimental, possibly seriously so. Some major water changes to clean the water is advisable, using a basic conditioner (the API Tap Water Conditioner is in my view the best you can use), and adding no other chemical substances except for plant nutrient supplements. As you have live plants, once they are growing you could add the first fish, provided ammonia and nitrite are testing zero. The plants if growing will easily deal with ammonia from the fish. Floating plants really are advisable though, and I would get some of these first.

 

[Beau87]

Thank you so much guys for the help much appreciated, I ended up adding some cardinal tetra last week on monday, I bought 8, 1 died it just sank straight to the bottom. The 7 other guys were very shy hiding mostly for 2-3 days now there going all over the place they seem fine.
I was very worried for 3 of them as they were staying at the bottom just gasping in one spot on the 1st and 2nd day now there very energetic.
I do notice there mouths opening up an down when there swimming like there gasping and two of them are slightly pale red, but I think there colour has changed to a more vibrant red the last day or so.
I'm battling another problem now which is my plants, they are dying. Some of the leaves are turning clear on the Elodea, the Anubis leaves are turning brown and have spots and the purple temple has holes and cracks in it now, the variegated rush tips were turning yellow also.
I'm just using Flourish seachem.I got a water test at the shop an the guy said I had no iron or phosphate in my water. And I needed to get that in there straight away he also said the flourish is heavily diluted and to use 3* the amount that it says. Now I need phosphate in there also. Any advice guys. I really want to save the Anubis as it's on a piece of drift wood and all the roots have spread over the timber looks beautifull but it's dying
Cheers Beau?

 

[Byron]

Thank you so much guys for the help much appreciated, I ended up adding some cardinal tetra last week on monday, I bought 8, 1 died it just sank straight to the bottom. The 7 other guys were very shy hiding mostly for 2-3 days now there going all over the place they seem fine.
I was very worried for 3 of them as they were staying at the bottom just gasping in one spot on the 1st and 2nd day now there very energetic.
I do notice there mouths opening up an down when there swimming like there gasping and two of them are slightly pale red, but I think there colour has changed to a more vibrant red the last day or so.
I'm battling another problem now which is my plants, they are dying. Some of the leaves are turning clear on the Elodea, the Anubis leaves are turning brown and have spots and the purple temple has holes and cracks in it now, the variegated rush tips were turning yellow also.
I'm just using Flourish seachem.I got a water test at the shop an the guy said I had no iron or phosphate in my water. And I needed to get that in there straight away he also said the flourish is heavily diluted and to use 3* the amount that it says. Now I need phosphate in there also. Any advice guys. I really want to save the Anubis as it's on a piece of drift wood and all the roots have spread over the timber looks beautifull but it's dying
Cheers Beau?

The advice from the store is false from beginning to end.

Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium--if this is what you have used--contains all the required nutrients (except for oxygen, hydrogen and carbon which all occur naturally in the aquarium) a\nd they are in the proportion to each other that benefits plants. Use the dose recommended on the label, once a week on the day following the water change. A second dose three days later can sometimes help, but depending upon other factors it might also cause algae problems. Do not use three times the dose, this is dangerous.

There is sufficient iron and phosphorus in this product to supply what the plants require. Guaranteed, this is not the issue. Excess iron can kill plants, and fish for that matter, and phosphates from fish foods alone will be sufficient for plants. Testing iron is not advisable because plants can store iron and the test may indicate very little (or no) iron when in fact the plants have all they need. You then go adding more iron, and trouble begins.

I don't see much wrong in the photos. Plants take time to adjust to a new environment. The light may be a factor though...what are the specs?

 

[Beau87]

Thanx for the reply Byron, it's a standard aqauone 620t tank it has the standard lighting both whitean blue light or just blue led, btw what is this on my equipment in the tank algae?

 

[Byron]

Thanx for the reply Byron, it's a standard aqauone 620t tank it has the standard lighting both whitean blue light or just blue led, btw what is this on my equipment in the tank algae?

There is some algae around the suction disk, that's not a problem, you/we just want to ensure it does not decide to grow on plant leaves. And the light/nutrient balance is the answer to that. The bubble-like stuff on the tubing, I do not know.

LED light is often high in blue but low in red. Plants need red and blue to photosynthesize, with red the more important of the two. Blue light alone is never going to benefit and it can cause algae problems. Use only the white light. But here we come to the makeup of the white...is there any indication of the spectrum? The Kelvin degrees would tell us, if that is given on the unit, package, or website?

All white light such as sunlight is made up of colour wavelengths (think of the rainbow, or a prism). The Kelvin measures the colour temperature of light. Mid-day sun is somewhere around 6000K. Plants respond best to 6500K which is high in the red, blue and green. But having said that, how the light unit is manufactured can affect this beyond the number itself.

 

[seangee]

Thanx for the reply Byron, it's a standard aqauone 620t tank it has the standard lighting both whitean blue light or just blue led

I have an Aqua One tank (different model) and have found that the light spectrum is pretty good. Its a little bright IMO but I balance that with plenty of floating plants and I do have tannin in the water. I set mine so that the blue light only comes on 5 minutes before the white light goes out. It then stays on for another half an hour which give me the opportunity to watch the nocturnal fish when they come out to play.

 

[Beau87]

Did a water test yesterday 0 ammonia 1ppm nitrites 0 nitrates. Completed a water test a minute ago an now I have 0,0,0 how's it possible for the nitrites to just disappear without any nitrates?

 

[Beau87]

Plants are getting worse, ambulia nearly dead, Anubis is dying leaves are brown other leaves on the other plants are turning clear

 

[Treestone]

I have an Aqua One tank (different model) and have found that the light spectrum is pretty good. Its a little bright IMO but I balance that with plenty of floating plants and I do have tannin in the water. I set mine so that the blue light only comes on 5 minutes before the white light goes out. It then stays on for another half an hour which give me the opportunity to watch the nocturnal fish when they come out to play.

The new AR aquaone tanks come with pretty (reasonably low intensity) solid lights. The ecostyle models s cannot say the same for.

For the plant's issue, I find many take time to acclimate to a new low-tech setup, especially in harder water.

 

[Byron]

Plants are getting worse, ambulia nearly dead, Anubis is dying leaves are brown other leaves on the other plants are turning clear

Can you confirm that the "Flourish Seachem" you are using is the Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium? That is the full name on the bottle. They make I'm not sure how many different additives under the "Flourish" label, and if you were using for example the Flourish Excel, I would not be surprised at plants dying.

Also, how long is the light on each day?

 

[Treestone]

Can you confirm that the "Flourish Seachem" you are using is the Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium? That is the full name on the bottle. They make I'm not sure how many different additives under the "Flourish" label, and if you were using for example the Flourish Excel, I would not be surprised at plants dying.

Also, how long is the light on each day?

Just wondering what do you think are the benefits of a simple water conditioner compared to something like Prime?