[sajouu]

Hello, I'm new to planted tanks and is just starting my first one! The thing I'm having the hardest time figuring out is the water parameters.
I planned to use home tap water and the PH seems to be around 8. I also intend to later introduce betta fish to the tank, this is the main reason I wanted to start a planted tank.
Should I be using water conditioner on my planted tank? I'm not sure how I should prepare the tap water, considering I'm going to be doing frequent water changes.
I feel that water parameters for planted tank vs a betta tank seem to differ. I do plan to use ADA aqua soil, and driftwood, maybe even seiryu stone which I saw also changes water ph.
I guess overall I'm less worried about the PH then all the other factors, such as KH, GH, Chlorine etc. Sorry I am very new to this! Hoping someone could help!
Its a 10 gallon tank, and I only plan to introduce some "beginner" plants such as various Anubias and cryptocoryne. I also went ahead and purchased the heater, thermometer, light... I was hoping to not use a filter but I may need to...

 

[pauld738]

You need to find out if you have chloramines in your tap water, your water company should tell you, and use the appropriate treatment if you do.

A lot on here use Seachem Prime no matter what and that might not be a bad idea.

I will suggest that if you don't want to run with a filter that you get a bunch of fast growing plants. Hornwort, if it's not illegal in your region, works well. Any of the floating Salvinia's are awesome nitrate sponges. I use Hornwort as a floating plant in my no filter betta "tank" as well as salvinia and some other odds and ends from my other tanks. Anubias and crypts are great but they don't grow fast enough to be considered a filter.

Aquasoil will makes things easier to go no filter as well since it will lower ph. Although you will negate that by adding seiryu stone. In a betta tank I would actually recommended against using seiryu stone. You want soft , low acidic water. Acidic water also helps mitigate ammonia issues, if those arise. Although with Aquasoil there is a ton of surface area for bacteria to grow. Not to mention the plants.

Here's my no filter betta "tank". Been running about a year. I've never seen nitrates above 5 ppm.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[vanostav61]

You always need to use water conditioner with tap water!

The water conditioner neutralizes the clorine or cloramines from your tap water, these chemicals are harmful for living creatures. The dosage should be on the bottle, in the instructions.