Difference between PH and Hardness?

[mooseman]

First of all, thanks to everyone for their great advice and thank you for putting up with my "newbie" questions.

This is related to my last thread. What is the difference between PH and Hardness of water? Should I be concerned about hard/soft and most importantly....how do I know what my fish like when it comes to hard or soft water????


1 - Oscar
2 - Bala's
1 - Sevrum
1- Shovel Nose
2 Moray Eels
1 - Golden Pleco

Thanks!

 

[Serrateeth_2002]

PH is potential hardness,KH is carbonate hardness,i'm confused,what's the difference?PH is acidic,neutral or alkaline,KH is soft,neutral or hard,these things usually coincide with one another like ph 8 usually is hard water,i hope i am right because i am confused as well.

 

[Richer]

pH is the measure of hydronium ions in your water (H3O, or H+). Its a measure of the acidity of your water. kh is a measure of the amount of dissolved carbonates are in your water. kh can determine the pH of your water, due to its ability to buffer your water.

In order to determine whether your water is "hard" or not, we're going to need to know your kh levels. Get a test kit to determine this. In most cases, most fish can adapt to living in water harder than what they usually live in.

HTH
-Richer

 

[Anton Wernher]

pH is used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of the water. 7 is neutral, the number increases as the alkalinity rises and decreases with increasing acidity.

There are two types of hardness talked about in aquaria.. that is kH and gH

kH (carbonate hardness) This is derived mainly from carbonate and bicarbonate ions. The number reflects the buffering capacity of the water.

gH hardness, on the other hand, refers to the concentration of magnesium and calcium ions I believe. When people refer to a fishes preference as far as hard or soft water goes they are refering to gH.

 

[Serrateeth_2002]

I really must note this down for my chemistry class,how do hydronium ions get into the water and what are they?I must get more details.

 

[JamisonBWolsh]

you have some nice fish in there. How big is your tank?

Also, if you have high nitrates, that can lower your PH.

 

[Anton Wernher]

As to the other part of you question I decided to neglect for whatever reason.. You shouldn't be to concerned with hardness. If you kH is overly low you should be concerned with the possibility of a flucuating pH. As far as gH as long as it isn't to extreme in either direction most fish can adapt quite well(within reason). An incorrect gH will affect the transfer of nutrients and waste through cell membranes. This can affect egg fertility and the fuction of the fishes internal organs.

You can find out what water conditions your fish prefer by where they are found naturally.

 

[wetmanNY]

Two excellent places to start with alkalinity ("KH" or "carbonate hardness"), which is connected to the balance between pH ("exponent of the hydrogen": acid/base scale) and carbon dioxide, and with general hardness, which is the measure of total hardness, including the KH, and isn't so directly connected with pH:

One is Adrian Tappin's website "Home of the Rainbowfish." http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/ open the "Contents" section.

The other is-- as always-- www.thekrib.com

Once you've looked through these two resources, you'll have much more focused questions. Come back and ask them here!

HTH!

 

[O-man21]

I don't really pay attention to what they mean, I just test them to see if there right or not

 

[wetmanNY]

That's fine if you're living at 123 Fake Street, but not helpful for folks asking about these things here, is it?