Advice for a newbie!
Hi all! I just set up these tanks a week ago and I need some advice about water parameters.
The big one is 6.3l and the small one is 4l
They have Tropica substrate capped with 3-4 cm of gravel.
The plans inside are:
Limnophila sesilliflora
Bacopa caroliniana
Lobelia cardinalis
1 Marimo ball each
The big one also has Microsorum pt. 'Narrow'
I have not used any bacterial starter. I did use Aquarian "Tap Water Safe" dechlorinating solution to treat the water before starting.
I don't have any animals inside. Plan is eventually to have a few snails and some shrimp.
I live in a very hard water area. My current water parameters are:
Useing WOLMDS 8 in 1 testing strips:
pH 8.4( Maxes out my test strips)
Total Alkalinity 360 mg/l (maxed out)
Carbonate 300 mg/l (maxed out)
Hardness 450 mg/l(maxed out)
Free chloride 0 mg/l
Nitrate 25 mg/l
Nitrite 1 mg/l
Ammonia 0-0.5 mg/l
A control of just filtered tap water shows the same, but Nitrite and Ammonia are 0 mg/l.
My questions are:
- Are my plant choices good? Do I need to add more ?
I was thinking about some Duckweed floaters and dipping in some Pothos plant cuttings and letting them send roots in the water.
Should I get some bacteria starter or just be patient and wait for the tanks to cycle naturally.
Do I need to do anything about the hardness and the pH of the water?
Is there a point to using the dechlorinating solution if my filtered tap water already doesn't have chloride in it as per the test strips.
Thank you for your advice!