Do I need to harden my water?

I think co2 will help even in a low light condition... (shrug)

People on the forums said not to bother that i wouldn't see a difference but since i installed my co2 last week my anubias has put out three new leaves and my hydro are growing like crazy :o

i have a 20g with 15watts
 
Co2 will help in any light, In high light it is a requirement and levels need to be much higher.

There are several ways to Raise Kh and buffer a tank. Probably the easiest, most stable, and most common is to add a bag of Crushed coral to your fiter.

Calcium test kits are avaialble, but in most cases a view of your drinking water analysis will tell you enough. Additionally GH numbers will reveal a good bit as GH trsts for Ca++ and Mg++ in the water.

Dave
 
Ah ha! Now I see the confusion Lora. In case you didn't "get" what RTR was saying, ideally for a high light tank, you want your pH to drop by 1 full "pH point". This would mean there would be enough CO2 for the plants to grow their best, provided there were ample nutrients to allow it. If your situation is different (2wpg is NOT high light) then you don't need that much. I would say for your case, .4-.6 drop in pH would be sufficient, BUT it may not be.

As Dave said, you need to establish your original pH. If it is 7.3, then you only need to come down to 6.6-6.8. Also as Dave said (twig too), CO2 will help in any light, and even some is better than none.

I won't repeat what else Dave (good advice btw!) has already said, but the email with my GH was a hint at that ;)

-Bill
 
Well, thanks again guys. It is so nice to have people to help me out with these things. I guess my pH is almost there. I will probably set my pH meter for 6.6 when i set it up with the regulator. I like the crushed coral idea in the filter. I think I will have to look for some of that. I figure it cant hurt to raise the kH a little since its only 5 right now. From what ive read, the fish like it a bit harder anyway.
 
No, the crushed corral will slowly increase the KH a bit, or help keep it stable, so you will still have to use the KH test to see where you are at the moment, but it dies not distort results. The difference in the KH is just the new or current baseline for what the pH would be eithout CO2. You have to test for KH with each measure anyway, as KH is normally used by tank biological processes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom