I just moved my tank to my new house yesterday and after setting it up I tested the water. The pH was 8.0 and the KH and GH both were 0. How do I lower my pH and increase my KH and GH? Can I put my plants in this water as is? Can I put my angelfish and pictus cat and rainbow shark in it? Everything is coming from water at pH=7.3 and gH and KH=3.5. I need to move my fish tomorrow.
Hi pH and 0 KH
- Thread starter rdelbalso
- Start date
what about a pH of 7, a gh of 0 and a kh of 17?
My new water softener was installed yesterday and the RO system was dead beyond repair.
Am I okay without the use of a bunch of buffers to control pH? and if so, will my pH be subject to swings with the use of CO2 for the plants?
I have a heavily planted tank with lots of CO2 and I am confused about what my next water change will do to the chemistry of the tank. I would be plenty upset if my barbs and loaches had problems with this new water...
My new water softener was installed yesterday and the RO system was dead beyond repair.
Am I okay without the use of a bunch of buffers to control pH? and if so, will my pH be subject to swings with the use of CO2 for the plants?
I have a heavily planted tank with lots of CO2 and I am confused about what my next water change will do to the chemistry of the tank. I would be plenty upset if my barbs and loaches had problems with this new water...
Those pHs will crash without adequate buffering. Also, I'd wait for 24 hours after running the tap to see what the real pH of the water is...but taking the water to the LFS is a good idea!
Seems strange that his tests were pretty normal at the old house and off the wall at the new one. Test kits don't go bad that fast. I'd still get it checked at your LFS however.
You must be quite a distance from the old house to have such different water parameters. If you're not, I suggest you import some water from the old house as a stop-gap measure until you can make some adjustments in the new water. If you can get enough of the "old" water to fill the tank, you can atleast acclimate the fish to the new water gradually. Those big Coleman camping coolers make great water carriers.
Len
You must be quite a distance from the old house to have such different water parameters. If you're not, I suggest you import some water from the old house as a stop-gap measure until you can make some adjustments in the new water. If you can get enough of the "old" water to fill the tank, you can atleast acclimate the fish to the new water gradually. Those big Coleman camping coolers make great water carriers.
Len
The water utilities are softening the water with the lime/soda method., using calcium oxide. The high pH is an artifact of depleted carbon dioxide. Run an airhose in your water-curing barrel for 24 hours and things should right themselves. There's more about this at www.skepticalaquarist.com in the Water folder.
Now you have very soft water that needs just enough buffer to stabilize the pH-- but not more, unless you're keeping special fish, like Rift Lake mbuna, or Central American cichlids or livebearers.
You could even run very low-tech planted tanks with this water.
Now you have very soft water that needs just enough buffer to stabilize the pH-- but not more, unless you're keeping special fish, like Rift Lake mbuna, or Central American cichlids or livebearers.
You could even run very low-tech planted tanks with this water.
thank you wetman, but we might not be on the same page.
I think I have plenty of carbonates in the water. According to the drops of reagent, 1 drop is 1 degree, thus 17 drops to get the bright yellow reading for KH. That's 304.3 PPM.
The GH, which I understand to be the permanent hardness, CA and Mg, is a big zero.
The Ph is 7.0
I use potassium and not salt in the softener. Am I correct in understanding that my water will be resistive to pH changes since the KH is so high? And if so, then I still need to add baking soda solution to bring the GH up to 3?
I think I have plenty of carbonates in the water. According to the drops of reagent, 1 drop is 1 degree, thus 17 drops to get the bright yellow reading for KH. That's 304.3 PPM.
The GH, which I understand to be the permanent hardness, CA and Mg, is a big zero.
The Ph is 7.0
I use potassium and not salt in the softener. Am I correct in understanding that my water will be resistive to pH changes since the KH is so high? And if so, then I still need to add baking soda solution to bring the GH up to 3?
Drops? A KH of 17 drops. Alkalinity is ordinarily measured either in degrees of carbonate hardness (dKH) or in parts per million (ppm or mg/l.).
Your point is well made. We are defibitely not on the same page.
If you are measuring your alkalinity in drops ,and if your general hardness test result is zero, perhaps your testing technique is flawed.
Your point is well made. We are defibitely not on the same page.
If you are measuring your alkalinity in drops ,and if your general hardness test result is zero, perhaps your testing technique is flawed.