# [Wet Thumb Forum]-water chemestry for planted aquariums



## Nickel (Oct 31, 2004)

I'm haveing trouble getting my water chemestry right for my planted aquarium. My ph and kh are usually high and my gh is low. Can anyone give me the correct water chemestry for a planted aquarium?


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## Nickel (Oct 31, 2004)

I'm haveing trouble getting my water chemestry right for my planted aquarium. My ph and kh are usually high and my gh is low. Can anyone give me the correct water chemestry for a planted aquarium?


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/articles.htm

http://www.thekrib.com/

http://paul.aaquaria.com/home/Home.htm

Here you can find some great info to get started. If you have any other questions just ask. We need to know more info about your tank thou.

Hawk


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Planted aquariums can be successful with a wide range of water conditions (ph/kh/gh). Only at very extreme levels, do you really need to adjust the water. Sorry, can only give a vague answer to a vague question


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## FISA (Feb 17, 2005)

Nickel your parameters are Ph 7 KH 7 and GH 2
right ???


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## Nickel (Oct 31, 2004)

My ph is 7.6. Kh is 13 and my Gh is 2. I have 3.5 watts per gallon. Flourite gravel and CO2. I have mixed the different water sources around my house and have come up with good readings. the water i'm going to start using has a ph of 7, kh of 5 and a gh of 5. That should be good, am i wronge? Do you have any reccomendations.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Are the ph values you gave before or after CO2? If before, then there must be some buffer in effect other than carbonate, do you know what it is?


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## Nickel (Oct 31, 2004)

I stopped using my co2 because if my plants wernt growing then the co2 levels in the water could kill all my fish. Can C02 lower kh levels though? Do you think i should start using my CO2 again or will it harm my fish. Also, i have been looking at planted aquarium buffers, do they work. Are there any that you reccomend?


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## magicmagni (Aug 19, 2004)

Hey there







If the plants are to have a chance then you need the CO2. I think most will agree that anything under 30ppm is fine, but use common sense. The fish will tell you if they are not getting enough oxygen. Co2 in the water and oxygen in the water are independent of each other the way I understand it so honestly it shouldn't matter. If you want you can run air bubbles at night time for a few hours just for piece of mind.

I have never seen CO2 lower the KH in the year that I have been practicing in this hobby, but maybe it's somehow possible. Stay away from any of the those commerially available buffers. you'll just be fighting your water and wasting your money IMO. If you want to add a buffer (raise the KH) baking soda does the trick, but if you're gonna use that water source of KH 5 and GH 5 that will work fine and if you set your Co2 injection to get the ph down to around 6.7 to 6.8 you'll have pretty good co2 levels.

I also find it odd that the KH is so high and GH so low in your tank usually they are more equal to each other. Do you have any rocks in that tank?


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## anonapersona (Mar 11, 2004)

Do you have a whole house water softener going?


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## Nickel (Oct 31, 2004)

Thank-you for the good info. Just in the past day I have noticed some new growth on my dead/decaying amazon swords. The root ball on the plant was absolutetly huge but all the leaves were gone. When I went to throw it away i noticed all kinds of new shoots on the plant. I think it is finally turning around. The kh of my aquarium is at 13 and the gh at 3 and ph at 7.5.. Is it ok if I start doing daily water changes with Ro water in my house. I was thinking of replacing one gallon every day. Since the kh, gh and ph is low in my Ro water it should help get it lower. 

I will follow your advice and not use any buffers. I will just keep trying to find the perfect mixture of water. I am mixing my tap water and ro water together and it make a pertty good mixture. The Ph is 7, kh 6, and gh is 6. Over a couple weeks the water in my aquarium should match that of the water i'm using. All the faucets in my house are softened except the outside hoses.
The reason my gh is so low and kh is so high is because the petstore I went to. They gave my a water softening pillow and said it lowered kh and gh. Well it only lowered gh so that really messed me up.
I do have a couple rocks in my aquarium. One really large one and a couple small ones. I probably should remove them because the linestone in them is probably affecting the water. 
I will get my Co2 running again this weekend. How can I increse gh? Will calcium carbonate for saltwater tanks do that?
Thanks again


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

But if your new water source is at GH 6, why do you look for other means to increase GH? After a few partial water changes, you will have higher gh? Am I missing something?


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