Greetings from downunder!
I've just joined the site and (being a novice) I feel pretty overwhelmed by all the information - it's great
I'm not COMPLETELY new to the hobby though. I've had 2 smaller tanks in the past. The first one had a couple of goldfish and the second one had a male betta with a school of white minnows. I had tried to grow aquatic plants in both tanks, however it wasn't until probably my tenth plant in my second tank that I got one growing. Funnily enough once it was growing my betta got pretty attached to it, and I think it may have made a bubble nest on the leaves. Anyway, most of this was done by chance as I had no idea what plants to choose or how to grow them properly.
So this brings me to my current situation. I have just unpacked a 75L tank (55x38.8x59.5cm) which my family gave me a few christmas' ago. I am still planning the setup of this tank but have so far decided to try and grow some plants in it before adding any fish. I am just a bit unsure how long I should wait after running the tank before adding the plants? My local aquarium store said 1 week, but after reading a couple of threads here I'm starting to think a month or so would be more like it? Also, I have heard CO2 is good for plants however am worried about the change it can have to the pH of the water. Previously I had just used chemicals to manage pH, should I use CO2 instead/aswell?
Finally if someone could tell me about nitrate filters I would be very grateful. I read they can almost eliminate water changes but this sounds too good to be true. Well, thanks for listening and congrats on a very interesting and informative site.
Cheers.
I've just joined the site and (being a novice) I feel pretty overwhelmed by all the information - it's great

I'm not COMPLETELY new to the hobby though. I've had 2 smaller tanks in the past. The first one had a couple of goldfish and the second one had a male betta with a school of white minnows. I had tried to grow aquatic plants in both tanks, however it wasn't until probably my tenth plant in my second tank that I got one growing. Funnily enough once it was growing my betta got pretty attached to it, and I think it may have made a bubble nest on the leaves. Anyway, most of this was done by chance as I had no idea what plants to choose or how to grow them properly.
So this brings me to my current situation. I have just unpacked a 75L tank (55x38.8x59.5cm) which my family gave me a few christmas' ago. I am still planning the setup of this tank but have so far decided to try and grow some plants in it before adding any fish. I am just a bit unsure how long I should wait after running the tank before adding the plants? My local aquarium store said 1 week, but after reading a couple of threads here I'm starting to think a month or so would be more like it? Also, I have heard CO2 is good for plants however am worried about the change it can have to the pH of the water. Previously I had just used chemicals to manage pH, should I use CO2 instead/aswell?
Finally if someone could tell me about nitrate filters I would be very grateful. I read they can almost eliminate water changes but this sounds too good to be true. Well, thanks for listening and congrats on a very interesting and informative site.
Cheers.