Help with new 20 gallon planted tank

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FishAreFriendsN

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jun 4, 2021
Messages
3
New to the fish keeping hobby, so please forgive me for the mistakes I have made, the ones I will continue to make, and anything I ask that makes me sound like the completely inexperienced hobbyist that I am.

We started with a 10 gallon community tank about a year ago with a dwarf gourami, 4 guppies, and a platy. Only lost one guppy in the year.

Recently upgraded to a 20 gallon PLANTED tank, dwarf gourami, 3 guppies, 2 platies, 2 shrimp. We are using Fluval Stratum substrate, Flourish tabs, and have Easy Green fertilizer from aquarium co-op. No CO2 system, not ready for that just yet. I do plan on getting about 8 more shrimp for a total of 10 and a few otocinclus for a cleanup crew…sometime very soon.

With the 10g we were testing with the API 5 in 1 test strips (pH, kH, gH, NH3, Nitrate, Nitrite) and NONE of the parameters ever changed. Liquid ammonia and nitrate tests showed spikes here and there that we controlled. We have had the planted 20g for about a month now and have had one ammonia spike, now a nitrate spike, and algae is beginning to show up (because of the nitrates, probably). I did the 5 in 1 test strip the other day and the kH was at ZERO, pH was low. We did water changes and I brought the pH and kH back up slowly using baking soda one teaspoon at a time over the course of a few days. My understanding is that the spike of nitrites and nitrates are acidic, causing the drop in pH which used up all the kH as it was trying to buffer the acidic environment.

Anyway, I have a few question I was hoping someone with much more experience than I could help me with so that my next few months of planted tank life goes smoother.

1. What all should I be testing? I will keep the 5 in 1 test strips, but the liquid tests are much easier to read. (I see a lot of people advocating for the API master test kit, but I already have the ammonia and nitrate tests and I don’t think the pH and high range pH tests would be that useful….but I may very well be wrong) Should I test for nitrites, nitrates, or both? Should I test for kH, pH or both? Should I test for phosphates?
2. Has anyone had experience with the API CO2 liquid booster, does it work, is it worth it?
3. How do I go about fertilizing? The bottle says dose 1x/Wk for low light, 2x/Wk for medium light….I don’t know if my light is considered medium or low. We are currently doing 10 hours of light per day on a timer. Or should I test for certain parameters before adding fertilizer?
4. Do you think my tank will support any more fish? And, if so, how many/size? PS I am NOT getting any fish for probably 4+ months, until I feel like the tank is ore stable…aside from the shrimp and otocinclus.
5. Also, we tried a “small” circulation pump that puts out 480GPH, but it blew a lot of the plants over and seemed way too powerful. Not sure if it was just the direction of the pump or if it was too powerful for our tank size.

:thanks: Thank everyone for your help!!! :fish2:
 
Let me share a few things with you. I’m sharing them with you because it is going to save you a lot of time, money, personal anguish, hopelessness, discouragement and frustration. I’ve already been through all of that for you. This is the only reason I’m going to come across as an arrogant know it all. I have suffered, BUT it has made me a better fish and plant keeper as a result.

Firstly, yes the pump is too powerful. Most pumps for most fish are too powerful. You will never see your fish display their full natural potential with lots of flow. Try it, switch the pump off for a while and see how they behave. Then you will see why very gentle water movement is all that is required. Even for plants.

Testing - you need to get used to using visual signs as your test kit as quickly as possible because your eyes can tell you more than any test kit this hobby has to offer. Ask any good health care professional what the number one fundamental signs are for ascertaining acute deterioration of health. Is the patient changing colour? how are they breathing? what are their eyes doing? Is speech slurred and so on. It’s our senses. They shouldn’t need to connect a blood saturation monitor to see they are lacking oxygen in an emergency situation.

Just like people, fish will show signs of distress if something is not right within their environment and the good news is, the answer will almost always be to change the water ASAP. So just get used to your fish, watch them, see how they behave.

It is true however that the early stages of any aquarium that has not been seeded with established microbes beforehand are the most hostile. However if you stock sensibly and remove and replace water regularly there should never be a problem. If the fish are acting normal then everything is ok. No tests required and there is a very good chance you will abandon testing when you have become accustomed to your tank in the long run anyway. That I can almost guarantee.

As far as plants are concerned, again testing isn’t required. Plants only care about obtaining enough light, carbon dioxide and nutrients. It sounds like you are good for light and nutrients (make sure your fert collection contains magnesium). You don’t need high concentrations of nutrients either if you are not using carbon dioxide.

To put this in to perspective. I can dose one times Estimative index levels of nutrients at the start of the week after a water change in my tank which will last for weeks. I know that the nutrients are still providing the plants because I use a floating plant that has all the light and carbon dioxide it needs which continues to grow. If there was a deficiency, this plant would show it first. However, after the next water change I dose again. No harm done and the plants always have all the nutrition they need.

Heres the crazy part. In my soft water area North West England, a 1 x Estimative Index dose still dose not provide as much nutritional concentration as my hard water friend living in the south. Can you see how some people can get away without even using fertilisers? Especially in low tech tanks. But if you do it anyway and follow the above the plants will do well.

pH never needs to be controlled but it’s easy to buffer by using crushed coral in your filter or just cast some on to the substrate. Easy. Crushed coral provides calcium and carbonates. Most aquatic plants can use carbonates to satisfy their carbon demands so that is another stress free bonus and you should never need to worry about calcium.

The most important things I can share with you is about time. Things take time in aquariums. Some things can respond quickly but most things take a lot of time to show any kind of response. Plants without carbon Dioxide supplementation will respond slowly to nutrient addition. You must wait. Weeks most of the time.

The last thing for now is about algae. Algae in new tanks are inevitable, you can’t do anything about them. Not if you have plants. You can’t starve it, reducing light won’t work, cutting back on nutrients or adding phosphate removers wont control it. It gets worse and worse too so just get used to it. You can scrub it and remove it or nuke it but it will come back. Algae is only solved by patience. One day perhaps after a few months you will remove algae and it will slow down in growth until eventually it stops then disappears for good and its only because the tank is now mature. It’s matured to a point where algae just stops. I don’t know why. But the biofilter is everywhere. The microbes. They are responsible. The tank balances itself somehow and runs clean. Crystal clear. After that the tank becomes super robust and can tolerate many changes. You can add co2 and remove co2. Stop doing water changes, resume water changes. Add more fertilisers etc. Its just runs clean and gets healthier. Thats when the tank, the plants etc come alive fully. Stuff just grows. Fish are always fat and health. Great colours and the water just stays crystal clear.

So my advice is keep things simple. Don’t tweak and mess constantly and come to conclusions no matter how sound your theory or hypothesis are because none of it will make a difference. Nature is in control. Just wait and you will see. If you have the patience that is. [emoji846]
 
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