KH, and GH?

[aidanchick]

My levels of KH, and GH, are low?

When I do the test, the water is so post to change from blue to yellow (I count how may drops it takes for it to change colour and the amount of drops equals the level of KH, or GH)

Well when I do the test, it autmatically changes to yellow..

How do I change that, and fix it?

Is there any sort of quick fix, from a bottle I can get?

 

[Somonas]

How much would you like to raise your KH/GH ?  

What kind of fish do you have ?  

When you raise KH,  PH will go up too.

Depending on the type of fish you have, you can use baking soda to raise KH and PH, and epsom salt to raise GH.    Alternatively you can purchase buffers at the LFS that do it too (lake malawi/tanganykan buffers.)  I wouldn't use PH Up or Proper PH or any of that crap.

Another way to do it, is to stick some coral shells, or crushed coral into your filter....if you do this, the KH/GH will not increase as fast as it will if you use baking soda or epsom salt.
You can also use aragonite/crushed coral gravel if you have african cichlids or fish that prefer high KH/GH.

hope this helps ;D

 

[ronrca]

Are you using tap water or R/O water? If it is your tap water, you are lucky imo. My water is medium hard therefore having discus is tough especially breeding. What is your pH?

 

[Matt Nace]

Also does your home have a water softener? That is some low GH at 1 drop.

 

[ronrca]

No kidding Rudy. The only time I got such soft water was when trying to breed discus and only used R/O water. Usually my gH is around 7-8 drops and kH around 16-18 drops. I could only dream of such low tap water  8)

 

[rummynose]

Hey ronca, do you keep discus in your tap water?  That is about the same water I have and I would like to keep them.  Do you only need to drop the kH/GH to breed them?

 

[ronrca]

Yes, I keep my discus in my tap water. They are fine with the harder water and higher pH. Breeding of course is out of the question. I know that some people disagree with keeping discus in these coniditions however some do not. I have had my discus for over a year now and they are doing great. Its not so much the water conditions (unless extreme conditions) that harm a fish but sudden changes to the water conditions.

 

[rummynose]

Wow, thanks.  I've been experimenting mixing peat filtered water (works real well) with tap, but I'm concerned about keeping constant water quality mixing these for every water change each week.  Maybe I'll try keeping them in my tap water until I can afford an RO.      

 

[aidanchick]

I have, 3 sunset platy's, 2 red honey gourami's, 3 neon teteras, and a plecostomus.

My Ph level is about 6.5-6.75 (but close to 7, I think) .. It is low in my opinion because most of my fish I know need a 7+ ph level.. right?

and when I test my GH and HK, when I put the drops in, it automatically changes colour.. so like one drop automatically turns the water yellow when it should turn blue first, then yellow.

 

[Matt Nace]

[quote author=ronrca link=board=freshwatergeneral&num=1019178671&start=0#4 date=04/19/02 at 12:12:15]
No kidding Rudy.
[/quote]

You calling me Rudy? ;D

 

[ronrca]

Sorry, Ruby! Typo!  

 

[aidanchick]

I am just using normal tap water..

also would having the low HK GH levels affect my tank if I put some plats in it? Would the plants die?

 

[ronrca]

Probably not! Another thing that I just noticed though is that when I do my gh/kh measurements, gh and kh start out as different colors ar first. They both dont start with one color. kH starts as blue and turns yellow, gh starts pink then turns blue. Just thought that I would mention that to be sure.

 

[aidanchick]

Yea but mine automatically turns yellow (no blue be4)..

 

[ronrca]

What is your general hardness?

 

[Somonas]

Fact 1  Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kits -

KH starts off blue and turns yellow when you reach your max KH.  the number of drops it takes to do this is your Degrees KH

GH starts off orange and turns green when you reach your max GH.  the number of drops it takes to do this is your Degrees GH

Fact 2  Hagen test kits are a bit more complicated (typical for Hagen).

KH starts off blue, and turns yellow when you reach your max KH in PPM (parts per million)  multiply this number of drops by 10, and then multiply again by 0.052 and you get your KH in Degrees KH.

GH starts off pink, and turns purple when you reach your max GH in PPM (parts per million)  multiply this number of drops by 20,(note - GH is x20, not x10) and then multiply again by 0.052 and you get your GH in Degrees GH.

aidanchick ,   you say it "turns yellow right away".  this means your KH (in degrees KH) is max 1.    

If you have low GH, that is fine - you will probably be adding PMDD or some sort of trace element that has magnesium sulphate (MGSO4) in it, which will increase your GH slowly over a period of time (1dh +/- 1 month approx).  

A low KH is another story - this is not good if you are injecting co2... with planted tanks a good minimum KH is at least 3. in my experience.

by the way 1 Degree KH or GH equals 17.9ppm KH or GH.

hope this helps.

 

[aidanchick]

Thank you so much.

I figured that the one drop is the first level .. (I forget the proper terms of measurments) .. I just wanted to make sure that things would be ok with my tank Again thank you.

 

[Somonas]

No problem, I hope it works out ok.