Hardness and Alkalinity TOO HIGH

Please post the pH, hardness and alkalinity of your tap and tank. Also add in the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings of both.

What is the tank stocked with?

If you do not mention what the readings are, it would be foolish of us to give you any recommendations.
 
247Plants said:
RO = reverse osmosis. What that means is the water was pushed through a membrane to remove all the dissolved solids in the water.

Water conditioner has no effect whatsoever on the ph, kh or gh of the water its in...

What is the ph of your tap and what is your desired ph? You really need to cover the basics before you go any further.

You should toss those test strips and get a liquid test kit. They are pretty reasonable and much much more accurate. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but if you want to delve into the world of water chemistry you should really know the monster you are up against.
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how do i do reverse osmosis
 
:iagree:
 
What hardness are we talking about GH or KH? I would recommend getting a test tube kit for GH and KH. Hardness is a mix of GH KH and PH so the term Hardness is very vast. Also did you mean the NitRATE was 40 ppm or the NitRITE?
 
GH stands for general hardness, its measures Ca and Mg ions in the water. GH has nothing to do with pH.

kH is carbonate hardness, and measures carbonate ions in the water. Carbonate is an alkaline buffer and will keep your pH high.

Naturally high GH water tends to have high KH values also. Ca or Mg ions and carbonate ions have opposite charges and combine readily. They dissolve out of the ground/local rocks into the water. If one is leaching into the ground water the other is probably present too.

Don't mess with the water. Constant levels outside of a fishes recommended range is usually better than causing swings by trying to artificially modify it.
 
Turbosaurus said:
GH stands for general hardness, its measures Ca and Mg ions in the water. GH has nothing to do with pH.

kH is carbonate hardness, and measures carbonate ions in the water. Carbonate is an alkaline buffer and will keep your pH high.

Naturally high GH water tends to have high KH values also. Ca or Mg ions and carbonate ions have opposite charges and combine readily. They dissolve out of the ground/local rocks into the water. If one is leaching into the ground water the other is probably present too.

Don't mess with the water. Constant levels outside of a fishes recommended range is usually better than causing swings by trying to artificially modify it.
Click to expand...

A good read on what GH really does measure and the impact in Physical Hardness... http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php
 
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