# Intro from East Texas and new setup



## chrislewistx (Jun 8, 2012)

Hi there, I have been lurking for a few weeks now, and wanted to introduce myself.

My name is Chris and I live in a small East Texas town just outside of Tyler. I am stepping back into the aquarium hobby after being away for 7-8 years. It's really amazing to see what all has changed since my last tanks. In the past I kept planted terrariums, a simple saltwater tank, and several freshwater tanks. All the freshwater tanks eventually became planted with simple plants such as dwarf sag, swords, anubias etc. 

I have been reading several forums, but I think I enjoy APC the best. There seems to be lots of good information and the atmosphere is friendly. In addition, I have been very impressed with the knowledge floating around the DFWAPC. I am looking forward to learning much more, and making some friends. 

Now on to my new setup. At this point I am sticking with what has worked for me in the past. Then I will continue to research, and branch out into some different setups. Here is what I have in mind for the first setup. However, I have some concerns about my water parameters. When I was keeping aquariums in the past I lived in Dallas. However, now I am in the country and have well water with the following parameters:
PH 7.6 per liquid drops and test Mardel test strips
KH 53.7ppm according to API liquid drops test kit
KH/ GH per Mardel and Hagen test strips 75ppm

I was wanting to keep small Tetras in this planted tank. With the above water parameters would I be better of getting RO water? I'm not sure how much the PH will drop with CO2 additions.

Here is my general setup:
20 gallon long
36 watts T5 lighting 6700K
Flourite substrate with root tabs
Flourish Excel for CO2
EI dosing to start
HOB filtration
150 watt heater
Single species of schooling tetras for the fauna
Start with easy low light plants: dwarf sag (planted heavy), and a single Anubias Nana in the foreground
Crypt Tropic for the mid-ground, and maybe Java Fern
Pennywort, and Wisteria for the background planted heavily

At this point I am not so much looking for a prime and proper "aquascape" I just want to see plant growth.

Any thoughts on the use of RO water? 

Chris


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Hi Chris, and welcome to APC! I've been to Bullard several times--that is a pretty part of the state.

If I am interpreting your water tests correctly, the water is already soft. The pH is a little high, but in soft water that is likely to fall once the tank is set up. In fact, you may need to add some minerals (calcium carbonate) to buffer the pH and keep it from going too low.

In other words, I don't think you need RO water at all, unless there is something else going on with your water. Everything else sounds fine.

Try to make a DFWAPC meeting sometime, we'd love to meet you.


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## chrislewistx (Jun 8, 2012)

Thank you Michael, I appreciate the welcome, and the advice on the RO water. I am going to setup the tank with the substrate, hardscape and plants before the fish so I am interested to see how the PH stabilizes in the tank. 

Also, I do plan on attending the next meeting. I have already paid my dues via PayPal, and I'm waiting on confirmation from the club. I read about the meeting in San Marcos, so I thought it might be a while before the next one. Is there any kind of meeting schedule, or should I just watch the forum for announcements?

It's interesting you have been to Bullard several times. Most people know Tyler, but not so many know Bullard. Those that do know Bullard have usually been here for a ball game at the baseball complex or the Kiepersol Winery and their bed and breakfast. I really enjoy living in a small town. Its quite different then growing up in Richardson, and living around Plano and Allen for so many years. 

I am really enjoying the forum. The post are very interesting. It could turn into a full time job to try and read all the great posts. lol It seems every in depth thread I start prompts me to open multiple tabs in my browser and spins me in off into other directions. It took me about a week to get through the one called "an excited word about filtration."


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## Virc003 (Aug 18, 2011)

If you fill the tank with as many plants as you say you will, then I would not worry about it. Well water is natural, and so long as there is not any kind of contamination, the tank will balance itself out. Afterall, tetras are some of the hardiest fish in the trade.

http://www.aquatic-plants.org is our club's website. You can find info on meetings there. Though reminders are often put up on the forum too. Meetings are once a month, generally on a sunday between 1 and 3pm.


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