I have a KH of 7, GH of 6 and PH of 8 what does this mean?

[bigspizz]

The nitrogen cycle, seems not to exist in your tank? Maybe it is so heavily planted and filtered that it rids the tank of all nitrates (the end of the nitrogen cycle) There are a couple nitrate reducers, and I think Seachem Purigen may be one of them. Be sure to replace water often still as there are many nutrients and minerals that can only be replenished by water changes...


In my hobby world, manual water changes, are the only way to lower my nitrates, and even then, my best tank is 10ppm...


Kh is carbonate hardness, it represents the buffering capacity of your water..Having a high buffering capacity, keeps your Ph static...(that means for the Ph to stay at say 8.0 and not fluctuate)



GH is general hardness...It is the measurement of calcium and magnesium ions in the water...Your water is soft...Not very soft, or barely soft...It is just plain old regular soft..lol You will want to watch your general hardness as it is key, in fish growth, reproduction, and overall function-ability over time.


If harmony is your goal...Your KH, is too high it should be at 4....And your pH could be at about 7..Your GH is fine..Fix the KH and the rest will follow....Good luck.

 

[chunkoblue]

In my opinion, your water conditions seem great. pH of 8.0 is not that high and is nothing to worry about. Your kH and gH are nothing to worry about either.. The last place I lived had a kH and gH three times higher than that and everything was fine. 0 ammonia/nitrate is perfect, and even though your nitrate is 0 (assuming the plants take care of this) it is still important to do regular water changes to remove any organic compounds that may build up.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is not a mixture of ion exchangers or adsorbents, but a unique macro-porous synthetic polymer that removes soluble and insoluble impurities from water at a rate and capacity that exceeds all others by over 500%. Purigen™ controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds.

Get that stuff out of your filter and leave it out. Then let the tank settle in to more normal conditions and figure out from there what sort of ferts you need to be dosing.

Plants loves the things the Purigen is sucking out, which is why heavy planting makes such a great biofilter. Mechanical filtration is more important in a heavily planted tank than bio.