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Water parameter results. What now?

1408 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by  Dman911
Started up a planted tank this past weekend. MGOP base with Flourite cap. Some plants and driftwood . More plants coming soon. No CO2 yet, no ferts. So far three 50% waterchanges in 5 days. Oh, and I have well water.
So here is the result of my water test kit.

High pH 7.4
pH 7.6
NH 0
KH 12 drops
GH 17 drops
Not sure what to do with this information now. i want to grow more and plants, a more lush environment, and eventually add fish and prob shrimp/inverts. The KH and GH should be lower, but dont want to just rush to dump chemicals in.
And here is a shot of the tank in question
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You will also want Nitrite, and Nitrate test results. I'm going to assume your tank is not cycled 1 because of the time its been setup and 2 because you haven't indicate using ammonia to do so. In order to get your tank read for inhabitants you will need to introduce ammonia in order to start the nitrogen cycle and test until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and are showing nitrates. I would suggest looking up the nitrogen cycle and in specific fishless cycle just to familiarize your self with the process then post any question that you may have here. I would also suggest testing you tap water for KH and GH and if they are lower look at the décor in your tank and remove shells, rocks (such as limestone or cannot be identified) then change the water and test again. If your tap water is just as hard you may need to look at investing in an R/O unit. I'm going to stop there and let other chime in.

Dan
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