New tank question

[nightowl66]

I started a 20 long a couple weeks ago. I used eco complete and ro water, my well water isn’t good. I have current satellite pro led light. Also a few plants, a couple small Amazon sword and Anubias. I don’t want to do co2. My ph is 7.6, ammonia .25, nitrite and nitrate both 0. I don’t have a kit for gh and kh. Do I need one since I’m using ro water?
Also what kinds of ferts should I get? It’s been 15 plus years since I had a aquarium, I forgot a lot.
Thanks for any help.

 

[King Fisher]

I use Thrive for my low light plants. Dose as recommended on the bottle

 

[ZxC]

Are you remineralizing your RO water? You should be....

I've heard of new Eco-Complete leaching a bit of kH ... that might be contributing to your 7.6 pH. How are you testing pH?

Because you are using RO water you should in fact need a gH + kH test even more than if you weren't.

gH = Ca + Mg
Ca / Mg = Plant secondary nutrients, essential for plant growth.

 

[nightowl66]

Are you remineralizing your RO water? You should be....

I've heard of new Eco-Complete leaching a bit of kH ... that might be contributing to your 7.6 pH. How are you testing pH?

Because you are using RO water you should in fact need a gH + kH test even more than if you weren't.

gH = Ca + Mg
Ca / Mg = Plant secondary nutrients, essential for plant growth.

I haven't added anything to the RO. Using API text kit. I'll get GH-KH test kit

 

[ZxC]

I haven't added anything to the RO. Using API text kit. I'll get GH-KH test kit

Cheapest way to remineralize:

CaSO4 / Gypsum / Plaster of Paris - For Ca - Target 35ppm Ca into new water.

450 mg CaSO4 / 1 gallon = 35ppm Ca


MgSO4 / Epsom Salts - For Mg - Target 10 -15ppm Mg into new water.

384 mg MgSO4 / 1 gallon = 10ppm Mg
576 mg MgSO4 / 1 gallon = 15ppm Mg


KHCO3 or K2CO3 for kH - Target 1-2 degrees of kH

135 mg KHCO3 / gallon = 1 degree of kH
93 mg K2CO3 / gallon = 1 degree of kH

Rotala Butterfly | Planted Aquarium Calculators & Information

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Night...

I see you mentioned there's currently a trace of ammonia in the water in this tank. You won't want to put in fish at this point until the ammonia is gone.

B