# KH and Eco-Complete



## fraynes1 (Mar 4, 2005)

I understand that Eco-Complete raises the kh. I redid my tank with Eco-Complete approximately 1 month ago. The kh of my tap water is 5 and when I do my 50% w/c kh is 5, but after 4 days (today) it is up to 8.

How long does this keep doing this if it ever stops?

Makes it kind of hard to not od on co2 when it changes everyday.

Thanks


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

it will always raise the kh and gh of the water. After a decent amount of time-a few months-it will slow down. It will never stop fully but it may get to the point wher eits hardly noticable.


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

It lasted about 4 months for me. Now its hardly noticeable.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

The high KH lasted maybe 3-4 months at around 8-9. There after it slowly declined to where it is now 3. I've had this tank set up for around 3 years now.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

Their advertising states it doesn't affect KH. ](*,)


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

I am sorry but there advertising lies then because it sure does buffer kh and also gh.


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## cS (Jan 27, 2004)

fraynes1 said:


> Makes it kind of hard to not od on co2 when it changes everyday.


Are you using a pH controller with your CO2 setup? If not, then the rise in KH should pose no problems whatsoever. If you do have a pH controller, then I'm afraid that I can't think of a way for you to accomodate the gradual continued KH rise. This applies in the reverse as well. Substrates such as Florabase and ADA Aquasoil lower KH so using a pH controller with such systems is also not desirable. I apologize that I can't be of further assistance. :-(

Aside from these inconveniences, don't view KH as an enemy. Its reputation is worse than it really is. KH plays an important role in our tanks. ;-)


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## fraynes1 (Mar 4, 2005)

No I don't use a ph controller, not actually familiar with them. Are they good and what is a good make/model?


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## travdawg (Mar 3, 2005)

How do you drop KH?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Trav... First of all you need to fiqure out what is causing your high KH, is it natural high out of the tap or is something in the tank causing the high KH.

Peat will lower KH so will mixing RO water with tap water.


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## travdawg (Mar 3, 2005)

I believe my high KH is caused by a couple of things... I recently redid my tank, & added EC. Before that, my KH was very low, VERY low & I was raising it with additives.... I also had driftwood in the tank, which may or may not have effected it as well... Since I swapped substrates, & removed the driftwood, my PH & KH have both been alot more steady than they were previously. I have done several water changes since my makeover of the tank, & still the KH & PH are consistently higer than what they were. I am currently away from hom, but I believe my PH was 7.2 or 7.4 & my KH was 100ppm.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

EC is known to raise KH, in that case you will just have the wait until the effects where off; usually takes a few months to start seeing a decline.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

what's so bad about KH ?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Jersey...Most plants & fish prefer a softer water (lower KH) so when the KH raises the water becomes harder. This sometimes will cause undue stress to some fish and plants.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

trenac said:


> Jersey...Most plants & fish prefer a softer water (lower KH) so when the KH raises the water becomes harder. This sometimes will cause undue stress to some fish and plants.


In order to measure KH I need to have a kit for that right? My master kit came with ammonia test, ph, nitrite and nitrate.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

JerseyScape said:


> In order to measure KH I need to have a kit for that right? My master kit came with ammonia test, ph, nitrite and nitrate.


Yes, a carbonate hardness (KH) test is needed. It is a very important test to have for growing plants.

Don't get me wrong, but some plants also do good in harder water too.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

trenac said:


> Yes, a carbonate hardness (KH) test is needed. It is a very important test to have for growing plants.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, but some plants also do good in harder water too.


what if your water is hard? how would you go about adjusting that?

thanks for your answers by the way


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Some people will top off with RO water or in extreme cases us a RO unit ($). Also peat will soften your water, but will cause it to become brown.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

trenac said:


> Jersey...Most plants & fish prefer a softer water (lower KH) so when the KH raises the water becomes harder. This sometimes will cause undue stress to some fish and plants.


With all due respect, I think that most plants do just fine in harder water. In fact when folks use pure R/O they have to add the minerals back in that compose most of "hardness". I have a GH of 15 and a KH of 8.5 and my tanks flourish. I do not grow Tonina for example that thrives in very acidic water (PH 5's), but I have grown many species that thrive. In fact, my observation has been that water temperature has more effect on plants than PH and KH.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

JerseyScape said:


> what's so bad about KH ?


The short answer is ...NOTHING! In fact in planted tanks I think its better to have a KH on the high side rather than the lower side (JMO). Low KH makes it hard to buffer PH and hcan have disasterous effects in a CO2 injected tank. Further, the higher the KH, the more CO2 you can safely add!

If your KH is between 6 and 10, I think that's a solid range. I used to buffer my KH up to 15 with baking soda when I was keeping my PH at 7.4 and the plants thrived.

The biggest hurdle I had to get over in this hobby was to not over-analyze every parameter. They are interesting for sure and its fun to understand the relationships, but plants and fish (as in the wild) can handle a wide range of parameters.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

Seachem Acid Buffer will lower KH. It converts CO3 (carbonate) to CO2.


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