Gh & Kh or just Kh?

justintoxicated

justintoxicated

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Dec 19, 2005
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I found 2 kits,

$5 for KH only
or
$9 for Kh&Gh

Do I need both test or is Kh enough?

I was told I should measure because I am using Hagen Plant Grow CO2 injection. My PH was dropping, but I added a piece of cuttlebone in my filter to see if it stabalizes after this water change. My Tap water has a high PH, about 7.5, and my PH was dropping to around 6.5 even before I started the Co2, which did not seem to make much of a difference in PH level.

the Hagen Plant grow is great in a 10g Working very well, the bubbles never make it to the top of the water, and I had about 12 bubbles at a time difusing in the counter this morning.

Wisteria really seems to be loving it, and I even saw some Pearling starting from an older crypt...Well maybe not pearling but a small bubble was released every 10-20 seconds.

Don't want to kill my Mystery Snails Shrimp or Guppies though...

Especialy since I have 2 pregnant Guppies, a nest of snail eggs, and a pregnant Ghost shrimp already...I did not expect these thigns to multiply so fast! Only been about 2 weeks!
 
For estimating the level of CO2 in your tank you need to be able to test both KH and PH. KH is carbonate and bicarbonates. Many plants can break down these to use in place of CO2, but many can not.

GH (calcium and magnesium) is used by (I believe) most all plants as part of the nutrients they need to grow well. To be able to test for them is good if you are not getting good growth. It is one factor that you can determine if they are getting enough of it. But is not needed to determine the CO2 level.

Both KH and GH can cause a higher PH, but seemingly not always. Though I have never understood how they could not cause a higher PH by their addition.
 
Watcher74 said:
For estimating the level of CO2 in your tank you need to be able to test both KH and PH. KH is carbonate and bicarbonates. Many plants can break down these to use in place of CO2, but many can not.

GH (calcium and magnesium) is used by (I believe) most all plants as part of the nutrients they need to grow well. To be able to test for them is good if you are not getting good growth. It is one factor that you can determine if they are getting enough of it. But is not needed to determine the CO2 level.

Both KH and GH can cause a higher PH, but seemingly not always. Though I have never understood how they could not cause a higher PH by their addition.
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Well all the plants but one seem to be doing fine, Heck I can't find it online so I don't even know if it is a truely aquatic plant. LFS said it was...

Mostly trying to determin why I have PH crashes, I'd like to keep it around 7..
I know I have hard water. So do I only need the Kh test kit then?

They should have plenty of calcium witht eh cuttle bone in there and I beleive I dose the other btu I will have to check the bottle when I get home.
 
KH would definetly help buffer your tank and help you to prevent PH crashes. I have read that adding regular Arm & Hammer Baking Soda is a good way to raise your KH. Maybe add some gradually with your partial water changes until you get above 3 dKH hardness? Or maybe even more.

My tap water has practically no GH and a KH of 17. So I'm not even going to worry a second over PH crashes.
 
Watcher74 said:
KH would definetly help buffer your tank and help you to prevent PH crashes. I have read that adding regular Arm & Hammer Baking Soda is a good way to raise your KH. Maybe add some gradually with your partial water changes until you get above 3 dKH hardness? Or maybe even more.

My tap water has practically no GH and a KH of 17. So I'm not even going to worry a second over PH crashes.
Click to expand...

Ok Thanks for the links and info everyone.

it sounds like I need to test Kh, but I may was wellg et teh kit to check for both.

I think the C02 and Driftwood might be causing the problems? I will let it run another day and see if it drops again with the cuttlebone in there. I'll try to pickup this kit ASAP...And post my results.
 
The CO2 is supposed to lower your pH.

Get the KH/GH kit. You *might* need the GH, you *will* need the KH. You'll have to replace the KH at some point because you need to use it a lot if you are injecting. The GH not as much, but you should have it.

Now, once you test your KH and if you find that it is too low -- 3 and under is too low -- find/borrow/steal/buy some crushed coral from your LFS, stick it in a sock and stick that in your filter. The coral, as it dissolves, will raise your pH AND your KH. The coral will not dissolve very fast in higher pH levels, however, once you start injecting and your pH drops, the coral will dissolve faster and stabilize your KH. This will keep you from crashing.

BEFORE you start injecting and assuming your KH is too low, add a tsp or more of of baking soda to the water to raise the KH to a safer level of 4 or 5. My 75g only needs tsp to raise it to 4. Once the KH is safer, then start injecting. You should only have to use the baking soda once to stabilize, the coral will take over from there and will be "permanent".

Roan
 
add a tsp or more of of baking soda to the water
Click to expand...

Just be sure and take some water from the tank, dissolve the baking soda in the water, and then pour the water back into the tank.

This is the same method that you use to add salt to a tank to treat problems such as ICH. So this precautionary technique is a good idea just in case (fish injesting, undissolved baking soda resting on the gravel, etc.)
 
Ok I finaly got the kit, I had to add about 5-6 drops to the vial before it turned yellow, Drops 5 & 6 went in at the same time...oops but anyways I owuld estimate the Kh to be around 80ppm-90ppm. PH keeps dropping to about 6.6-6.5...

I stuck a piece of cuttlebone in my filter did not seem to do much, I guess I could buy some crushed coral and stick it in my whispers charcoal area instead of using charcoal? Not alot of options with this filter... :(

I also tested Nitrate it was 0ppm! Not sure why! last week it was 5 ppm, this is after a water change though, since I use about 2 gallons of the 10 gallon to setup a new tank for fry...
 
Your plants are using up the available nitrates. You'll need to supplement if you don't want the algae monster to get you.

I have the same problem with 7.0 NO3 out of the tap. After a water change it's gone in one day. I'm still trying to get some sort of balance going. I'm adding almost 10ppm a day, but by the next day it's gone again. **** greedy plants.

Roan

ROFL! It x'd out the word "dam_n"
 
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