Goldfish neutralizer block

[kagentx]

i'm confused... i just got a calcium rock from the fish store. I mixed it in a bucket of water, added a spoon of epsom salt and checked the gH. I still reads zero!
i use the aquarium pharmaceutical test kit. The 5 ml water turns tint yellow after the first drop. Can it be the test kit's problem??

[jsoong]

How much water is in that bucket? The calcium rock will take a while to raise [acronym:453bd3f9bb="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:453bd3f9bb] (crushed limestomne will take a week or 2, whole rock a lot longer).... Also, what is the pH, if it is in the high 7's, little of the rock will dissolve <as the equilibrium point of [acronym:453bd3f9bb="Calcium carbonate"]CaCO3[/acronym:453bd3f9bb] is pH of 8>.

As for the MgSO4, you might need more to show up in your test. Try adding a spoon to a cup of water & see if it register on your kit ... if not, you might want to try a different kit.

Also, if your water co publish the [acronym:453bd3f9bb="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:453bd3f9bb]/[acronym:453bd3f9bb="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:453bd3f9bb] numbers, you can use that to check on the accuracy of your test kits.

[kagentx]

its a Travertine Rock by HBH. the pH for the water is 7.2 or 7.4 and no kH or gH readings. the bucket is a ice cream bucket fill only about 4 inches up. I was just trying to hard to get a gH reading. hmm i never called the water company, maybe i should.

Other than this my tank is doing superb. Guppy babies are so fun to watch. Debating whether or not i should change lightbulbs... it seems to work fine, but its been almost 2 years.

[jsoong]

Hm, you might want to test your test kit .....

4" of water in a 1 [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] ice cream bucket ---- about 1/2 [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] or 2 liters. 1 spoon of MgSO4 is say 5g ..... You should have a [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="milligrams or magnesium, depending on context"]Mg[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] level of 1000 [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] (roughly), that should give you a [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] of 50 or so.

Also, pH of 7.4 should have a measurable [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] (assuming you have carbonate buffered water).

The fact that you are measuring no [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] or [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] makes the test kit suspect .... possibilities - test kit too old, gone bad, test not done correctly? If possible, have water tested with another kit & see what comes up. You can also validate your tests by testing water with a know [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc]/[acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] (eg. make up a solution of baking soda of known concentration to test your [acronym:d6a2a0fcdc="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:d6a2a0fcdc] kit).

Finally .... if the tank is doing fine, I won't necessarily worry about test kit numbers.... The kits are really not that accurate (compared to real lab measurments) and are best thought of as trending tools .... and as one of my old prof used to say: "Treat the PATIENT, not the NUMBERS!!!"