Sitting water in tank

Hi, I had a betta for about a year. Then he died in June. We still have a live snail crawling around. The past few months we've been topping up the water and kept the filter running, heater on, but that's it. I'd like to create a water plant garden with MAYBE putting in a betta later. Is any of the water good to keep, or should we empty and start all over? Or maybe empty half, then add new water? Any resources for starting a plant tank when you've had a fish in there previously? TIA

 

I would probably enpty half anyway when doing the planting, so you don't get water everywhere.

 

Do you have any test kits ? Might tell you where your waters at if you’re unsure, your cycle may of crashed due to low bio load, or your snail pooping and no water changes could of made high ammonia / nitrates . It’s probably good practise to wc 50% for the sake of it and it’ll make it easier to plant it up, find a style you like and go for it ! Anubias is a nice easy low tech plant to start with .

 

If you have been topping up the water lost due to evaporation with tap water, but have not done any water changes over the past few months, the mineral content of the water will have increased over time. If you water is hard, the increase will be significant; if you water is soft, the increase will be less so.

Thus, I would suggest doing a 50% water change each week for several weeks. Also, if you have not been adding fish food to the tank, the beneficial bacteria in the filter have likely gone dormant. They need to have a source of ammonia to thrive. Thus, even if your tank was properly cycled with the betta, it might not be now.

To get your cycle started again, begin adding a pinch of fish food to your tank each day. Feed about the same amount you would have fed your betta if he were still in there. After a few weeks, your cycle should be active again and the water changes will have brought the mineral content back to tap water level. At that point, you can pick out your new fish. You should be able to plant the tank any time you desire, but as was indicated earlier, removing 50% of the water, adding your plants and then refilling the tank is a great plan.

 

I would probably enpty half anyway when doing the planting, so you don't get water everywhere.

Will do! Thanks!

If you have been topping up the water lost due to evaporation with tap water, but have not done any water changes over the past few months, the mineral content of the water will have increased over time. If you water is hard, the increase will be significant; if you water is soft, the increase will be less so.

Thus, I would suggest doing a 50% water change each week for several weeks. Also, if you have not been adding fish food to the tank, the beneficial bacteria in the filter have likely gone dormant. They need to have a source of ammonia to thrive. Thus, even if your tank was properly cycled with the betta, it might not be now.

To get your cycle started again, begin adding a pinch of fish food to your tank each day. Feed about the same amount you would have fed your betta if he were still in there. After a few weeks, your cycle should be active again and the water changes will have brought the mineral content back to tap water level. At that point, you can pick out your new fish. You should be able to plant the tank any time you desire, but as was indicated earlier, removing 50% of the water, adding your plants and then refilling the tank is a great plan.

This is exactly the help I was looking for. Thank you! All my levels are actually good, except for pH, which is too high. I'll do a 50% water change and if it's still high, I bought phH Down to help bring it down. I'll monitor over the next few weeks and do more changes. Will also add fish food and see what that does; I haven't changed the filter since the betta died, but I'll assume bacteria are gone dormant. I'm thinking a few ember tetra in 3-4 weeks if my water looks good. Meanwhile, I bought some plants, so I'll empty water 50% and then plant. I'm so excited! Thank you!!!!!