New addict

[JEKO]

Hello everyone,

Been trolling the forums for a while now but I just got into the hobby with a 29 gallon long about a month ago.

I live in Hawaii and have been in the water my whole life so the ocean is usually my aquarium (I also free dive in my spare time) but my wife brought home some fish she got from work and we picked up a 12 gallon for them and I just got sucked in, don't know why I haven't gotten into the hobby sooner.

I have this tank that's half fluval stratum and half pea gravel substrate (flourish tabs where plants are in gravel). low tech to start with but hopefully I can move to a bigger high tech tank in a few months when I have my basics of maintenance down. I was thinking about dosing my water with fluval excel to help the plants in the gravel, any thoughts on that?

I think I have it full of fish atm with: 2 Honey Gourami, 5 black phantom tetras, 5 diamond tetras, 6 pepper corys and a bunch of amano shrimp. What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance for your feed back and I'm excited to see where This hobby takes me!

 

[JEKO]

Tried to edit the photo in the post but it said it was spam... issued already!

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF, and to this fascinating hobby.

First question...what are the water parameters for your source (tap) water? This refers to the GH (general or total hardness), KH (carbonate hardness or Alkalinity) and pH. You may be able to find this out from the website of your water authority, or ask them directly. With the number we need to know the unit of measurement they use as there are several and the numbers of course differ depending upon the unit. Freshwater fish are very different from marine fish in that freshwater fish have evolved over thousands of years to function in specific water parameters. Freshwater varies, unlike sea water.

Second question...are we talking the 29g here, or the 12g? From the photo I would guess the 12g, but you mention both. Providing us with the dimensions as well as volume will help. Some fish need length more than others, even in the same volume of water. I will say though that if the mentioned fish are in the 29g, that is abut it; in the 12g, you have problems waiting to happen.

Third comment for now, on this Fluval Excel. I am assuming it is actually Flourish Excel, a so-called liquid carbon supplement made by Seachem? If it is, do not use it. You don't need it, the plants don't need it, and it is a toxic chemical that the fish do not need inside them. Freshwater is continually passing into the fish's bloodstream via osmosis, and every substance we add to the water thus gets inside fish. Some can be deadly, others just stressful, but stress is the cause of 95% of all fish disease.

Byron.

 

[JEKO]

At work now but I will test my water when I get home and let you know.

The potato pic is of my 29 gallon, I will try to upload a better pic later also!

 

[JEKO]

Using the API 5 in 1 test strip and the test strip shows: GH 60ppm, KH 40ppm, pH 7.0, NO2 3ppm, NO3 20ppm

Hopefully a little better pic attached than before. Size is 30"x12"x19".

 

[SeanTrollope]

hi and welcome

is it possible for you to get a liquid test kit as the strips are unfortunately inaccurate.

and yes once fish keeping has you hooked you fall hook line and sinker.

 

[JEKO]

Thanks for the tip, I figured the strips weren't as good because of the price

 

[Byron]

Using the API 5 in 1 test strip and the test strip shows: GH 60ppm, KH 40ppm, pH 7.0, NO2 3ppm, NO3 20ppm

Hopefully a little better pic attached than before. Size is 30"x12"x19".

NO2 presumably is nitrite...if it is really 3 ppm, your fish would be dead. Please explain, something isn't right here.

NO3 I assume is nitrate. At 20 ppm you are at the highest level. Is this really accurate? Have you tested the tap water alone for nitrate? Or is this solely from within the aquarium?

The GH, KH and pH are the water parameters, and are fine. You have soft water, so soft water species like you have are fine with these parameters.

Byron.

 

[JEKO]

sorry for the delayed response but got a master test kit a week ago and all parameters are good 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite

 

[Essjay]

Are you sure your nitrate is zero? Most tanks have some nitrate even if it is just a small amount.
Just to check - are you shaking one of the nitrate bottles as the instructions say (with the API tester it is bottle #2)?

 

[JEKO]

this tank has been going for almost 2 months now and the previous tests showed some before but I just tested it earlier today and got those results.

 

[Byron]

I assume the test results for NO2 and NO3 in post # 5 was somehow inaccurate, or at any rate they are now zero, so that is fine.

Nitrate at or near zero is not a problem as this is common in planted tanks. It depends upon the number and species of plants and the fish load (numbers, size, feeding). Water changes and filter cleaning can also impact nitrate. So I wouldn't worry. Given that nitrate is toxic to fish, having it zero is ideal. It runs between 0 and 5 ppm in my tanks, but I have relatively heavy fish loads.