Planted cycle

[Essjay]

Reverse osmosis will (should) remove everything from the water - including the hardness minerals. This is OK if we keep fish which need very soft water but not if we keep hard water fish like guppies or swordtails. In this case, minerals must be added to the RO water or the fish will suffer.

 

[Sgooosh]

Reverse osmosis will (should) remove everything from the water - including the hardness minerals. This is OK if we keep fish which need very soft water but not if we keep hard water fish like guppies or swordtails. In this case, minerals must be added to the RO water or the fish will suffer.

yes i know i just dont want to drink brown water.......

 

[mcordelia]

if you are concerned about your drinking water quality, you can get an under-sink cartridge style filter. They are more cost-effective than RO, and do not remove all the minerals (which, humans actually need as well). There have been a couple of reports in the medical literature of osteoporosis, and for some reason atherosclerosis tied to drinking exclusively RO water (probably has to do with people not being able to supplement all necessary minerals they normally get from water from their diet), but obviously not something that can be reliably studied in the human population, so....

Here is an article for US folks on well-rated under sink drinking water filters: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-under-sink-water-filter/

 

[mbsqw1d]

If you don't do at least a 25% water change weekly a planted tanks pH will slide. I once had a Severum tank that was at pH5. For all tropical fresh water aquariums ( bar a few exceptions ) the best pH is around 6.8. This is low enough to turn any ammonia into ammonium and is also just acidic enough to buffer against diseases.

I thought you were chlorine free because you use rainwater for everything in your home?

 

[itiwhetu]

I thought you were chlorine free because you use rainwater for everything in your home?

I have only been on the rainwater tank for three years prior to that I was on town supply always just like most people

 

[eatyourpeas]

Yuck, do you drink that

I do let the water run for a bit before drinking, but stopped taking baths a long time ago.

 

[myrxn]

@Essjay

Hi, thank you everyone for your help its been amazing reading through. So my tank is 5 UK gallons, 25 litres, 12x12x12" and I'll tell you the plants I want in it..

Erect moss for carpet.
Java moss on stone and little on the spider wood I'm getting
Then plants for around I wanted
One anubias
a few java fern (maybe like 4 stems)
about 4 wisteria
amazon frogbit for the top surface

and then maybe a red coloured plant for a bit of contrast (any idea what would be good?)

and I was going to use this as the substrate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tropica-...trate-Fish-Tank/202817145488?var=502981123539
is that a good one?

the fish I'm gonna have is one female betta and then shrimp

and so I was wondering would I need a filter for that? and need to add ammonia? if I don't need a filter I will get a powerhead or something (what would you say would be good for a tank that size for water flow? that's light for the shrimp and betta?)

 

[Essjay]

You do need a filter. They move the water round the tank which is important as gas exchange (oxygen in and carbon dioxide out) takes place at the water surface and moving the water round means more if the underneath water is pulled to the top so more gas exchange. Filters also trap bits floating in the water.

Java fern doesn't come as stems, it comes as rhizomes with leaves and roots attached. Both anubias and java fern are normally grown attached to decor as they are both rhizome plants, and rhizomes rot if they are buried.

With just wisteria to plant in the substrate, I would go with just sand. I don't know that much about wisteria but if the plant experts say it's a root feeder you'll just need root tabs. All the other plants in the list are leaf feeders so you'll ned a liquid fertiliser. In the UK, the most highly recommended liquid fertilisers are Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement and TNC Lite. Seachem and TNC make other products but get just one of those two. Seachem Flourish root tabs (if they are needed) are one of the best.
Play sand is one of the cheapest sands - Argos play sand comes highly recommended by some of our members.

If you get all those plants, set up the tank, plant the wisteria, attach the java fern, anubias and moss to something, leave the frogbit to float, take a photo then leave it for a couple of weeks. Then compare the tank to the photo of the newly set up tank. If the planst are showing signs of growing - especially if the frogbit now covers a lot more of the surface, you'll be able to get the betta. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite for several days afterwards and if either show up, do a water change.


Shrimps. These depend on the temperament of the betta. I know you intend a female but some females are as aggressive as males. And she might well see shrimps as food. Amano shrimps are the biggest so you might get away with them. Otherwise get a couple of shrimps and see what happens.
But with any shrimps, you have to be careful with plants. I know we've left the EU now but plants grown outside the EU have to be treated with snail killer, and that will still apply to plants imported into the UK from non-EU countries. Snail killers also kill shrimps. If you want shrimps you need plants which are guaranteed shrimp safe, which is getting hard to do. Most of the shrimp safe plants are grown in the EU and shops don't seem to be importing them at the moment.




The alternative way to set up the tank is to put in the substrate and non-plant decor and do a fishless cycle. When it's finished add the plants then the betta.

 

[myrxn]

You do need a filter. They move the water round the tank which is important as gas exchange (oxygen in and carbon dioxide out) takes place at the water surface and moving the water round means more if the underneath water is pulled to the top so more gas exchange. Filters also trap bits floating in the water.

Java fern doesn't come as stems, it comes as rhizomes with leaves and roots attached. Both anubias and java fern are normally grown attached to decor as they are both rhizome plants, and rhizomes rot if they are buried.

With just wisteria to plant in the substrate, I would go with just sand. I don't know that much about wisteria but if the plant experts say it's a root feeder you'll just need root tabs. All the other plants in the list are leaf feeders so you'll ned a liquid fertiliser. In the UK, the most highly recommended liquid fertilisers are Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement and TNC Lite. Seachem and TNC make other products but get just one of those two. Seachem Flourish root tabs (if they are needed) are one of the best.
Play sand is one of the cheapest sands - Argos play sand comes highly recommended by some of our members.

If you get all those plants, set up the tank, plant the wisteria, attach the java fern, anubias and moss to something, leave the frogbit to float, take a photo then leave it for a couple of weeks. Then compare the tank to the photo of the newly set up tank. If the planst are showing signs of growing - especially if the frogbit now covers a lot more of the surface, you'll be able to get the betta. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite for several days afterwards and if either show up, do a water change.


Shrimps. These depend on the temperament of the betta. I know you intend a female but some females are as aggressive as males. And she might well see shrimps as food. Amano shrimps are the biggest so you might get away with them. Otherwise get a couple of shrimps and see what happens.
But with any shrimps, you have to be careful with plants. I know we've left the EU now but plants grown outside the EU have to be treated with snail killer, and that will still apply to plants imported into the UK from non-EU countries. Snail killers also kill shrimps. If you want shrimps you need plants which are guaranteed shrimp safe, which is getting hard to do. Most of the shrimp safe plants are grown in the EU and shops don't seem to be importing them at the moment.




The alternative way to set up the tank is to put in the substrate and non-plant decor and do a fishless cycle. When it's finished add the plants then the betta.

oh.. what could i attach the plants too that you wouldn't really see? and what oTher plants are there that I could use that actually are buried?

 

[Essjay]

I just noticed that your tank is a 30 cm/12 inch cube. My shrimp tank is the same size. With a 30 x 30 footprint, there won't be room for many plants.
In mine I have 2 pieces of wood, one long and thin standing on its end and covered in java moss; the other is smaller and roughly dome shaped and has anubias bonsai attached. I have a plant called Schismatoglottis preitori planted in the substrate - it arrived as a clump of small plants so I separated them and left a small space between each plant. I'm hoping that eventually they grow in to one big mass. And there's frogbit on the surface.

If you want anubias, you need to chose one of the smaller species. I've had anubias plants in the past that would fill my entire 30 cm cube by themselves.
Wisteria ticks all the boxes - an easy to grow, low light plant. But it grows up to 30 cm tall and may take over your tank. I've not grown this plant myself, but other members have and they'll be able to tell you if it will grow too big for a 30 cm/12 inch cube.


The website Tropica has some ideas for different layouts. This one is tanks with easy plants and under 50 litres https://tropica.com/en/inspiration/?mode=search&dif=Easy&size=small&sizename=< 50L &aquarium= Most of these tanks are rectangular with a larger footprint than our tanks, but it will give you some ideas of what the experts can do.

 

[myrxn]

I just noticed that your tank is a 30 cm/12 inch cube. My shrimp tank is the same size. With a 30 x 30 footprint, there won't be room for many plants.
In mine I have 2 pieces of wood, one long and thin standing on its end and covered in java moss; the other is smaller and roughly dome shaped and has anubias bonsai attached. I have a plant called Schismatoglottis preitori planted in the substrate - it arrived as a clump of small plants so I separated them and left a small space between each plant. I'm hoping that eventually they grow in to one big mass. And there's frogbit on the surface.

If you want anubias, you need to chose one of the smaller species. I've had anubias plants in the past that would fill my entire 30 cm cube by themselves.
Wisteria ticks all the boxes - an easy to grow, low light plant. But it grows up to 30 cm tall and may take over your tank. I've not grown this plant myself, but other members have and they'll be able to tell you if it will grow too big for a 30 cm/12 inch cube.


The website Tropica has some ideas for different layouts. This one is tanks with easy plants and under 50 litres https/tropica.com/en/inspiration/?mode=search&dif=Easy&size=small&sizename=< 50L &aquarium= Most of these tanks are rectangular with a larger footprint than our tanks, but it will give you some ideas of what the experts can do.

i found this layout and i really like it and its for my sized tank so that is quite a lot of plants for that size. https://tropica.com/en/inspiration/layout/Layout43/5038

and can I use the substrate still that I said about? because I really like that one. and sand I don't really like

 

[Essjay]

If you like the substrate, it's fine. The only reason I suggested sand (or even gravel) is that with most of the plants growing on decor rather than rooted in the substrate you don't need a plant substrate and plain sand/gravel is cheaper.

 

[myrxn]

If you like the substrate, it's fine. The only reason I suggested sand (or even gravel) is that with most of the plants growing on decor rather than rooted in the substrate you don't need a plant substrate and plain sand/gravel is cheaper.

i got https://www.homeleigh.co.uk/product/dennerle-quartz-gravel-diamond-black-5kg/ but in brown for the substrate and then I was looking at these for heaters and filters.


filter: https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/intern...vtOZTo-WDKKnGDN64svxNp6-A9Rg1uQ0aAjdsEALw_wcB

heater: https://www.realaquatics.co.uk/betta-aquarium-compact-fish-tank-heater-25w/

I think these seem like good ones??

 

[Kyle E.]

I don't know either of them. They might be great, they might be junk. I would personally stick with the well known brands such as Fluval, Eheim, Marineland, etc. Make sure you have a thermometer as heaters are not to be trusted to keep the temperature at what they say they will. If at all possible make sure any heater you get is adjustable, not a preset temp.

 

[myrxn]

If you like the substrate, it's fine. The only reason I suggested sand (or even gravel) is that with most of the plants growing on decor rather than rooted in the substrate you don't need a plant substrate and plain sand/gravel is cheaper.

als

I don't know either of them. They might be great, they might be junk. I would personally stick with the well known brands such as Fluval, Eheim, Marineland, etc. Make sure you have a thermometer as heaters are not to be trusted to keep the temperature at what they say they will. If at all possible make sure any heater you get is adjustable, not a preset temp.

well that one i showed is an adjustable heater