range of pH & kH

[angmoh]

What's the correct readings for pH and kH ? for a planted freshwater tank ? i have neon tetras, rummies , ottos and some shrimps in the tank. what would be the desirable reading for it ???

What if the pH is too high or low ? What if the kH is too high or low ?

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Tetras like a lower pH 5.5-7.0 but can tolerate higher ph. Aim for 6.5-7.0 kH is more tricky. If it is too high, your water will have a high pH. If it is too low, you will have pH swings. 3-6 degrees (50-100 ppm) is recommended for tetras. The only way to lower kH is to add distilled or RO water.

 

[greenmaji]

I would not mess with the ph unless your doing it with CO2 injection.. It depends on what your target CO2 level is, as to what KH you need to buffer to, and what PH you need to stop injecting CO2 at.. How much light do you have and how big is the tank?
DI resins lower carbonate hardness as well.. they make water softening pillows out of the stuff for what I would call ballpark lowering of the KH. I know this is not the best way of doing it but I thought I would say it before someone else did.. using distilled and ro water you can be alot more accurate with lowering the KH..in my opinion
there is a good chance that the KH will have to be raised rather than lowered though if it needs changed at all..

 

[angmoh]

i just had a water test just now

pH = 7
kH = 2

what shall i do now ? the kH seems low ..

 

[malkore]

You're fine as long as you're not injecting CO2.

 

[angmoh]

hmm i thought the kH should range about 3-5 ? mine is abit low isnt it ??

well, if not injecting CO2, how will my plants grow well ?

 

[RoK]

My water's KH is also at about that, possibly even a little lower and my fish do fine with it. The fish you have should do fine with it as well.
What size tank and how many watts is/are the light(s)?

 

[angmoh]

tank size: 3ft , about 50gal

lighting : 2 x 22 W T4
2 x 15W FL

Total: 74W , considered as low ligh tank

 

[RoK]

You should be fine with low light plants. Java fern, java moss, anubias, etc. should grow fine in there.

 

[greenmaji]

raising the KH will just raise the PH with it so unless your going to use CO2 wich it doesnt look like you need to when looking at your setup, your kh is fine.. If you were to use CO2 your PH would come down..
by the way at a ph of 7 and a kh of 2 the water can only hold somewhere between 5.4 and 6.6 ppm of CO2.. how is this not a potential problem?

 

[malkore]

low-light means you don't have to inject CO2, so you shouldn't see any pH swings.

Greenmagi - because it's low light, CO2 isn't an inhibiting factor. Plants won't photosynthesize quickly, so there's enough available even at 3-4ppm. They won't use it up like they would in a high light tank.