Recommendations for a new plant tank

[DaveJT]

Hello,

I'm getting ready to replace a 10 gal (overstocked with Convicts) with a 65gal which I hope to plant and use as a community tank. The tap-water here tests as: PH 8.3 (drops to about 7.6 after 36 hrs) , NH3 at .5 (chloramine! :-P) KH and GH both at 2.0, PO4 .5. The local plant store guru is recommending PH of about 6.8 with a combination of neutral regulator and discus buffer to get it there. tested this on a sample and it seems to work well.

Questions:

1. What do you recommend for treating my tap water for setup and water changes. I plan on pretreating water for changes and letting it 'stand' before using it.

2. What do you recommend for filter media? External canister filters.

3. Will the phosphate based buffering of the Neutral Regulator and Discus Buffer increase algae growth? It does throw off the phosphate test correct?

Biggest concerns are: controlling algae growth, keeping enough trace elements and 'food' for the plants while maintaining that crystal clear water look I am so fond of.

TIA.

[Tech Support AN]

Thanks for the post! I will try to answer your questions in the order they were received:

1. I would recommend treating your tap water with Prime for setup and water changes. Prime is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia and will convert ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. It may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity and will also detoxify nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels. Prime also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat. It is non-acidic and will not impact pH. To read more about Prime follow the link below:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

2. You have several options for filter media. For your chemical filtration I would recommend Purigen, which is my personal favorite. It is an organic scavenging resin that will remove any nitrogenous waster before they can convert to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. It will also polish your water to unparalleled clarity, which is something that you mentioned you really wanted. You could also go with the SeaGel, since you are really concerned with algae control. This is a 50/50 blend of our MatrixCarbon and PhosGuard. MatrixCarbon is an ultracapacity carbon for the removal of organic and color impurities. PhosGuard is a powerful remover of phosphate, silicate, toxic metals, and acids. These are the two media's that I use in my planted tank and have had fantastic results. To read more about these filtration media's follow the links below:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/SeaGel.html
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Purigen.html

3. Since it sounds as if you are going to have a planted tank, I would recommend using our Acid and Alkaline Buffers instead. The Acid/Alkaline Buffers are carbonate based buffers that are ideal for the planted aquarium. Using the Neutral Regulator and Discus Buffer will increase your phosphates, as they are phosphate based buffers. You can use the Acid/Alkaline buffers in conjunction with one another to target a desired pH. To read more about these buffers follow the links below:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AcidBuffer.html
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AlkalineBuffer.html

I would further recommend that you check out our planted line of products, which contain all the necessary supplements that one would need to have a very successful planted aquarium. Follow the link below to our planted product page:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/Planted.html

I hope this information was helpful and please let us know if you need any further assistance.