PH, GH, KH... My readings?

[hope4peace]

I'm not so worried about my ph which is 7.6 but my hardness worries me.

I always knew I had hard water but is this really bad?

KH 160-200 GH 55-100

the large range is due to the tests.. for the kh is said BRIGHT yellow.. they don't have a color to match to so I don't know what they consider bright yellow so thats why the range.

same with gh. they really should give a color card and say when it turns THIS color.

are those really bad? do I need to get some water softener?

[DisgruntledUser]

look through the test tube from top to bottom over a white surface, much easier to determine when the color changes. I'm pretty sure it would be wise to achieve the best possible accuracy with your test before making changes to your water conditions.

[hope4peace]

ok for the GH.. just when it STARTS to turn green?

also I'm really confused about the KH... what exactly are they considering BRIGHT yellow.. how bright? I really wish I had a color comparison. Do the fish shops use a different method of testing that doesn't rely on "opinion" of color. Maybe I could have them test my water for me?

[gmh]

I can't answer the color question (I am colorblind) but the ranges you cited sound fine to me, assuming you are talking parts per million on your GH and KH readings. I wish my water were that soft.

[hope4peace]

really? because I see alot of fish on their hardness it ranges from 1-20... my cories for instance it said the GH for them is between 4-18. (at least my snails will be happy!)

[gmh]

How high does the scale of your test kit go? I'm assuming it is measuring GH in parts per million. I believe a GH rating of 20 would equate to around 320 parts per million of dissoved minerals, or somewhere in that range.

[hope4peace]

the chart for the test kit goes from 17.9-214.8 ppm

I am using the AP GH&KH test kit.

[gmh]

Your water is fine. Even if it is 100 parts per million, thats pretty soft at least by southern California standards. My tap comes out at well over 400 parts per million.

[hope4peace]

ok then I am confused (and feeling pretty stupid).. so if thats soft.. then.. is that TOO soft for snails?

[artdale]

The equivalence is approx: 1 dGh=17.9ppmGh; 1dKh=17.9ppmKh where d=german degrees and ppm=parts per million.
So you have more or less 10dKh and 5dGh. It probably is not too soft for snails.
Are you sure of your measures?
Kh > Gh usually happens when your water is somewhere filtered by a water softner. These softners exchange calcium and potassium iones with sodium reducing this way the Gh but lefting an high kh. If so, 99% nothing happens but too much sodium is not good for plants.

[hope4peace]

I have unfiltered well water. I thought it would be very hard because we are always having to clean our sinks and tub with CLR to remove mineral deposits. Its so bad that I have to use special shampoo to stop it from turning my blonde highlights green (which happened before).

I followed the directions the best I could but its hard when they just say "bright yellow" and "green" I really wish there was a way to test that didn't rely on someones opinion of color or at least had a color card that SHOWED you what they mean.

[DisgruntledUser]

the test is dynamic, once the threshold of drops is reached the color will change after that single drop. record the number of drops until it changes then multiple the drops by 17.9, for example my tap water takes 2 drops for both gh and kh to change to their result colors. hope this helps. also remember to look through the test tube long ways over a white sheet of paper, very helpful...

:)

[kj5kb]

my API and tetra tests work the same: add 1 drop, cap & shake gently. Note color. add second drop, cap & shake, note color.

etc, etc, til color is different AFTER shaken. No problems noting color differences; they are pretty dramatic. Maybe get another set of eyes to help?

If that's the test i'm thinking it is...one drop = one degree of hardness...

Your water MIGHT not be as hard as you thought...doesn't take MUCH hardness to precipitate calcium (limescale) everywhere...

Might also try another test kit, different brand if you can borrow one...My ~5 year old API kit agrees with my 2 year old tetra kit except for GH...After 30 drops (!) of API GH test reagent, the color still hadnt changed....actual GH is ~8 degrees (Yes, i know I should go get entire new kits)

[hope4peace]

mine just tells me to invert the test tube a few times. not actually shake it. and my color differences were not dramatic, it slowly changed a little with each drop.