dezcookies
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Sorry for long post but thank you so much for those that will take the time to read and give me any feedback. Here goes.
I bought some smooth peach/rose colour (color) gravel from a stonemason over a month ago. I spent 3 hours washing 40kgs (88.2lbs) of gravel in small batches for quality control. When I added it to the tank I did a 80% water change.
I have been doing 40%PWC every 4 days with gravel cleaning but I haven't had time in the last 10 days. I noticed my pH rose from 7.6 to 8.4 (I didn't notice it earlier since I was busy with exams).
Immediately checked all my parametres (parameters) for any abnormality. My ammonia, nitrate and nitrite were fine but my GH and KH rose significantly.
The readings for my tank currently are:
pH - 8.4
GH - 196.9ppm (11 drops of API GH test solution)
KH - 143.2ppm (8 drops of API KH test solution)
Water that comes from my tap(which i used initially to fill the tank) have readings of:
pH - 7
GH - 71.6ppm (4 drops of API GH test solution)
KH - 53.7ppm (3 drops of API KH test solution)
Now I am wondering if a tank is dirty (some excess food+fish poop) and haven't had any PWC for last 10 days, will that raise the GH and KH levels?
I am currently testing the gravel in a separate container starting from wednesday. The readings initially was same as above when it came out of the tap but in the last 72 hours, the isolated gravel sample's reading increased to:
GH - 89.5ppm (5 drops of API GH test solution)
KH - 71.6ppm (4 drops of API KH test solution)
I believe it may be the gravel that's releasing minerals into the water however my isolated sample will tell me in a weeks time (giving it 1 week just to see any significant increase in minerals).
Any thoughts on this anyone?
also I would like confirmation that missing weekly PWC will not result in increased GH, KH and pH.
I bought some smooth peach/rose colour (color) gravel from a stonemason over a month ago. I spent 3 hours washing 40kgs (88.2lbs) of gravel in small batches for quality control. When I added it to the tank I did a 80% water change.
I have been doing 40%PWC every 4 days with gravel cleaning but I haven't had time in the last 10 days. I noticed my pH rose from 7.6 to 8.4 (I didn't notice it earlier since I was busy with exams).
Immediately checked all my parametres (parameters) for any abnormality. My ammonia, nitrate and nitrite were fine but my GH and KH rose significantly.
The readings for my tank currently are:
pH - 8.4
GH - 196.9ppm (11 drops of API GH test solution)
KH - 143.2ppm (8 drops of API KH test solution)
Water that comes from my tap(which i used initially to fill the tank) have readings of:
pH - 7
GH - 71.6ppm (4 drops of API GH test solution)
KH - 53.7ppm (3 drops of API KH test solution)
Now I am wondering if a tank is dirty (some excess food+fish poop) and haven't had any PWC for last 10 days, will that raise the GH and KH levels?
I am currently testing the gravel in a separate container starting from wednesday. The readings initially was same as above when it came out of the tap but in the last 72 hours, the isolated gravel sample's reading increased to:
GH - 89.5ppm (5 drops of API GH test solution)
KH - 71.6ppm (4 drops of API KH test solution)
I believe it may be the gravel that's releasing minerals into the water however my isolated sample will tell me in a weeks time (giving it 1 week just to see any significant increase in minerals).
Any thoughts on this anyone?
also I would like confirmation that missing weekly PWC will not result in increased GH, KH and pH.