testing results and may need help

[jade71301]

Ok I have a 5 gal holding guppies. I just did a water test everything seems ok except the GH. I put a calcium wafer in the water and after I took it out, it was at 900 and now it is down to 600 after about 3 or 4 water changes what gives??? Anyway here are my results.

P.H 7.6 Nitrates 0 Amonia 0 KH 80 and GH 600
I think that is ok. Only thing I am not sure is about PH. What is Ph exactly and what should it be at. to be exact it was 7.6 for the low ph and high ph was 7.8 so what ph kit do i use and which one is the right one??

Thanks for your responses.

 

[Grumpy_Marine]

PH is the measurement of how acidic or alkalinity your water is... words could have just been invented in that sentance...lol

What PH means to you, if it is too high it will act like acid on fish and burn them, if it is too low it means there is not enough acid in water and it could harm fish also. so you have to balance the PH levels at all times.

Now for the good news... usually whatever your tap water reads for PH is fine for fish. i.e. yours is 7.6 the store has it at 7.8 you acclimate your fish they will be fine. I have fish that sticker said keep in 7.0-7.4 ph range, my ph is around 7.6-7.8 and i dont try to balance or lower or raise it, i adjust the fish to that level and they do fine.

You can adjust PH but it is really a waste of time since it is so touchy either way. Simple ways you can lower ph is by adding driftwood into tank it will lower it and maintan better than chemicles would. The only real tests you need to check for the guppies is ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. get ammonia and nitrites at 0 and nitrates between 5-20 ppm you will be cycled and able to keep fish bioload going. I do w/c when my nitrates hit 20 ppm. If you have any other questions please let us know.

 

[jade71301]

so another words my amonia nitrate is at 0 so that is good but my nitrates are at 0 so that means my tank is not cycled until it is at 5ppm just seeing in i understand now. How about my gh is that too high for guppies I think so, will it kill them eventually? Ty

 

[S-kate]

low is acidic, high is basic. I mix it up all the time too.

 

[S-kate]

Do you have any live plants, or a lot of algae? My tanks always have very low nitrates now that I've gotten my plants to grow. Guppies are fairly hardy, I wouldn't worry about the gH for now.

 

[jade71301]

no live plants but lots of algae and tiny pesky snails lol

 

[Fishywishy]

the algae is eating your nitrates which is probably why you are showing "0"

 

[Grumpy_Marine]

i don't know much about GH as i don't test for it anyways. I know it is something with hardness of water, but the water where i am is super hard and would take to much effort and stress the fish too much to change it so i leave at tap levels with some dechlor at w/c.

Yup i am the infamous word switcher, i get it backwards alot when explaining stuff thanks for the corrections. S-kate