[mpodolan]

Hey everyone. I have been using this site as a valuable source of information while just getting into this hobby. Great stuff on here. I just moved back from school and I took the opportunity to change the substrate in my 10 and 20H tanks to flurorite. I put the fluorite in, filled the tanks, and added the plants that I still had from before the move on 5/7. I added the fish back in today (5/9). The plants took a little beating in the move, so they aren't in the best shape right now. Plus, the water here is very hard (gH around 25, kH around 23), so I am trying to mix R/O water with the tap water to soften it up to a reasonable level. Currently, the parameters in both tanks are:
Amm-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate dosed to 10ppm using KNO3, Phosphate dosed to 1-2 ppm using KH2PO4, kH-7

In the 10 gallon, the gH is still over 20, while the gH in the 20 is 18. Any ideas why the gH wasn't lowered more using half and half R/O and tap water? The kH came down nicely, but the gH is stubborn. None of the stone in my tanks reacted to an acid test, so I am curious why the gH would still be so high. Also, do you think this is enough of a plant load to cycle the tank, or should I add more? Any ideas about the tank would be appreciated. Here's a picture of the 20 gallon

And one of the 10 gallon

 

[James From Cali]

They look good. They look to much alike though. Maybe mixing it up with different rocks or plants would give them some true character other than sharing one. Looks good although.

 

[mpodolan]

Yeah, they are way too much alike right now. I just wanted to get some faster growing plants (anacharis, red ludwigia) in there to start the cycle going. I'm planning to aquascape them for real once the tank becomes more stable. Thanks for the input.

 

[James From Cali]

I think you have enough plant mass for a cycle. What is your lighting. I may have missed it. Red Ludwigia is a great plant. What kind of driftwood is that?

 

[mpodolan]

In both tanks, I retrofit the hoods with AH Supply kits. I have 1X36 watt CF in the 10 and 1X55 watt CF in the 20. I'm not exactly sure what kind of driftwood it is. One piece (in the 10 )I got from a friend a few years ago and the other (in the 20) I recently purchased from Pruess in Lansing, MI. I boiled it to remove most of the tannins and to help it sink faster.