# New planted tank



## akimbo (Dec 16, 2011)

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to share and see what you think about my tank and set-up.
I have a 20 gallon freshwater tanks its about 3 weeks old. i used about 2.5- 3 inches of substrate on the bottom of half the tank in which i have several cryptocoryne wendtii and bronze cryptocoryne growing. i have 3 pieces of driftwood, i attached some java ferns to one and java moss to the others. I also have a couple hornworts growing in the background and a bit of duckweed floating above. 
i have 9 fish in the tank,
1 chines algae eater
2 swordtail
2 platies
1 red onion snail
4 ghost shrimp
and 5 assorted guppies 4 males and 1 pregnant female that looks like shes about to give birth. (part of the reason why i decided to get some duckweed)
what do you think? my levels are fine all 'round and i try to do 10% water changes every 3-4 days. 
I was thinking of getting some small neon tetras, or something else.. Any suggestions?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

post some pics!


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## akimbo (Dec 16, 2011)

I will as soon as I find a camera!


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## Julian (Jun 29, 2008)

sounds cool. Generally I would say do a larger water change every 7 days. Also that Chinese algae eater might get a bit large and agressive for you tank.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Are you sure it's cycled? What do you mean by levels are fine all around? What are the values?

If your tank is cycled, you should check your nitrate levels to determine the amount and frequency of water change needed. You want to keep the level at ~20ppm.

I worked out a formula here:
http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26602


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## akimbo (Dec 16, 2011)

solarz said:


> Are you sure it's cycled? What do you mean by levels are fine all around? What are the values?
> 
> If your tank is cycled, you should check your nitrate levels to determine the amount and frequency of water change needed. You want to keep the level at ~20ppm.
> 
> ...


I have about 20-30 ppm nitrate, 0.5 nitrite, 7.0 ph and about 150 hardness. I've been trying to bring my hardness down. what would you recomend? using distilled water for water changes?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

akimbo said:


> I have about 20-30 ppm nitrate, 0.5 nitrite, 7.0 ph and about 150 hardness. I've been trying to bring my hardness down. what would you recomend? using distilled water for water changes?


Sounds like you're not cycled yet, since you still have nitrites.

Don't worry about hardness, it'll be fine. I keep cardinal tetras in plain tap water and they're doing just fine. Your platies, swordtails and guppies actually prefer harder water.

Don't get any more fish until your nitrite falls to 0.


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