# [Wet Thumb Forum]-GH KH??



## WetHeadP (May 13, 2004)

I got a Hagen PG KH test kit.. 

it says to *20 to the number of drops to calculate the GK of a sample.. I am getting 10 drops before it changes so i have a GH of 200?? 

My KH is 16 drops and it says to *10 to that so my KH is 160?? 

is that correct? seems high.


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## WetHeadP (May 13, 2004)

I got a Hagen PG KH test kit.. 

it says to *20 to the number of drops to calculate the GK of a sample.. I am getting 10 drops before it changes so i have a GH of 200?? 

My KH is 16 drops and it says to *10 to that so my KH is 160?? 

is that correct? seems high.


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## nino (Oct 2, 2004)

I use the same brand and you did it correctly. My GH is even worse (300ppm).


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## WetHeadP (May 13, 2004)

I get it now.. if you * .056 to that you get dH 
and thats what everyone is using..

DUH.. I guess I should read the box.







hehe Anyone want to solve my tank problem?

We are on a well and the water tests in at

Well Water(avg):
PH: 6.0-7.5
GH: 210-240PPM
KH: 160-190PPM

and my tank stable at

Aquarium(current):
PH: 8.0
GH: 200 (11.2dH)
KH: 160 (9.6dH)

My goal is to lower my PH to 7.5-7.0 and make it stable. So my plants can do a bit better.

I also added a PeatMoss filter pack to my Aquaclear in hopes that it would do something. however my buffers are to high.









I went out and bought some water conditioner to lower my GH but it was a temporary solution. in 8 hr's it was right back up where it was before.

It would seem that my tank has something in it that makes the water hard and raises the PH on it's own. but for the life of me i can not figure out what it is.

Below is a pic with FULL stats on my tank.

I do water changes religously once a week with a 20% change.










HELP!!!


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

The KH and GH in your tank are comparable to the KH and GH in your aquarium. I don't see evidence for anything in your aquarium making the water harder.

Your tap water is loaded with CO2. Given the range of pH and KH that you listed, the water has from 10 to 390 ppm of CO2. It loses the CO2 when you put it in your tank, which has only about 3 ppm in it. The pH goes up to 8 because the CO2 level drops.

If you want to reduce the pH then you need to do it by adding CO2.


Roger Miller


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## WetHeadP (May 13, 2004)

I also figured that the tap water had to have a lot of C02 in it. and it was the reason for my PH to rise.

I am sorry perhaps i didn't clairify.

I said my aquarium has something that makes it hard because when I added some chem. softeners I was able to get my aquarium GH down to 9dH but after 8 hr's it bounced back to 11dH


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

GH rebounding has no direct relationship to the pH or KH. It seems that if something in your tank were causing GH to increase then the GH in your tank would be higher than the GH in your tap water.

What kind of softener did you use?


Roger Miller


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## WetHeadP (May 13, 2004)

Mardel TankSoft /w Humic acids.









I don't like adding chemicals. (outside of fertelizer) but My GH levels where buggin me.

I put in the desired ammounts for my volume and within 10 mins my ph was down to 7.5 and my GH was at 9-10 after a hour or so. but the next day tested it was back to 8.0 and 11

New delimah







my water is tea coloured now. I think finally after having the peat in my filter for a week now, it has finally started to break down.

It's not anoying it's a yellow tea colour. and the water clairity is great and the glass is squeeky clean so I would imagine it's the tannins in the peat







or this damm water softener has dyed my tank LOL.. interestingly enough it was a dark browny colour as well, but it took a day after adding it for my tank to change to this tea coloured water. so i will assume it's the peat.

I took your advice and added my DIY C02 back in the chain.

I originally had it going eariler however some of the yeast got into my tank water months ago and caused this.










You could sit and watch it grow. in one night it took over the entire tank. slimy transparent hairs.

It was a nightmare to get rid of.. I had to take all my plants out and give them a bath.

So this time I put another Bottle in the chain of my DIY c02 system to let fluids drop in the bottom of a empty bottle. incase a drop gets sucked in.

I appreciate the feedback roger.

Paul.


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by WetHeadP:
> Mardel TankSoft /w Humic acids.


I'm not familiar with the product. From the name I'll guess that it is acidic and that it complexes calcium.

Any time you add something acidic to an aquarium there will be a drop in pH as the acid reacts with the buffer and forms CO2. Once the CO2 escapaes the pH goes back up to about where it started.

There are few complexes that are strong enough to bind calcium so that it can't be measured with a standard hardness test. Since the hardness bounced back to where it started I would guess that the calcium complex the Mardel product formed was not very strong and was not very permanent.



> quote:
> 
> I don't like adding chemicals. (outside of fertelizer) but My GH levels where buggin me.


Your hardness isn't high enough to cause many problems. You are probably better off leaving it alone then you are trying to fix it.

If you really do want to lower KH and GH then the best solution is to dilute your tap water with RO water or distilled water.

Roger Miller


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

guppies eat that stuff up ..so do mollies and platies and swords.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

"My goal is to lower my PH to 7.5-7.0 and make it stable. So my plants can do a bit better."

If the goal is for the plants to do better, I'd start by increasing your light levels, then adding more CO2, perhaps from a pressurized CO2 system (DIY CO2 on a 60 gallon is possible but you need several ...

45W in 60 gallons is a low light tank and not sure the addition of CO2 by itself is going to do much for your plants.

Laith


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## WetHeadP (May 13, 2004)

Thanks for the input guys. 2 days in now and i am able to lower my KH to 150 with PH 7.5
so the DYI Co2 system i got running is doing a mild change. So i have doubled my co2 saturation not bad but i am still scared that my tank might endup with like the above pic again









we'll see. thanks.


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