First time testing for GH/KH

[apr28]

I am getting ready to set up a second 29G aquarium and trying to do a bioscape specific to my water but never tested GH or KH so I need some help understanding what I'm reading.
I am not sure if I count the first drop or not.

I tested my water from tap and from my established tank

Tap parameters: Amm-0
Nit-0
Trate-0
PH- 7.6
KH- 3 drops including first one
GH- 3 drops including first one

Tank parameters: Amm-0
Nit- 0
Trate- 10-20
PH-7.6
KH- 3 drops including first one
GH- 3 drops including first one

Just need an explanation of exactly the type of water I have.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Yes, you count the first drop. Your water is very soft and has limited buffering capacity (the buffering capacity part is not necessarily a problem). The pH is not really that acidic or alkaline for an aquarium- pretty much run-of-the-mill.

Your water would be good for a South American biotope. So, tetras, angels, dwarf cichlids, discus, corys, otos, hatchets, etc. would all be options. These fish often live in more acidic water, but that doesn't matter so much. Your steady pH and soft water are more important.

 

[trennamw]

My tap has KH and GH of less than 1, and I get crazy pH issues.

I supplement them up to 3 or 4 and everything is stable. I have a community tank, lots of fish do well in water that is soft ish but buffered enough for stable pH.

You do count the first drop.

I normally say "don't mess with your water" but if you really wanted to, supplementing soft water is easy.

I use API Chiclid buffer for KH, and seachem equilibrium for GH. You could come up to 4 or 5 degrees KH and GH with around a quarter teaspoon each per 15 or 20 gallons water.

API Chiclid salts work for GH too, it's just not as complex a set of minerals.

Going with what's in your tap is great but with neutral pH and low buffering capacity, you're right on the border of getting pH swings.

You could choose fish that like soft water that isn't acidic, watch the pH very carefully, and if it's moving a lot, buffer a tiny bit.

In fact a tiny bit of crushed coral might give you a 1 point bump. I don't usually recommend it but you're right on that edge.

I've only been keeping fish for awhile, there will be more experienced opinions too.

Just don't use proper pH, or straight alkaline or acid buffers. They get freaky very easily in my experience.



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[PNWaquarist]

If the tank is established and the pH has never gone through wild swings, I'd suggest leaving it alone. I'm also at about 3 dKH and don't have problems. But having some cichlid buffer on hand isn't a bad idea, just in case. Increasing the GH will not increase the buffering capacity, BTW.

At a KH of < 1, I can see why you'd need to supplement buffers. Is all of the water around Portland that ion-deficient?

 

[ScotJudd]

My tap water in West Yorkshire, UK, is <1 Kh and <1 Gh. I use bicarbonate of soda and Equilibrium in all water added to the tank. 2.5ml of each to 10litres. This gives me a reliable Kh and Gh of 6 and my Ph stays really steady. Without the buffering the Ph did swing around unacceptably.


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[dalto]

Your water is soft and slightly alkaline.

I pretty much agree with PWNAquarist. A south american tank would be perfect. Another option would be west african which has similar parameters.

I typically worry a lot more about hardness/TDS than pH unless it is extreme.

A KH reading of 3 is totally workable. I typically target 2-3 in my tanks. Just remember to keep up with water changes.

 

[trennamw]

Is all of the water around Portland that ion-deficient?

The water supply area that gets a water boil notice every spring (Portland and Tigard), and the water supply area that's Beaverton and Hillsboro, do.

I might be wrong about it being less than .1 degrees. I was doing a test with the API drops and could well have gotten my math completely backward. You should be able to tell me ... I figured if I made the sample 10 times bigger I could get one decimal point more specific. So I took 5 ml tap water and 4.5 ml distilled water, and it still turned color at 1 drop. So I take that to mean it's a tenth of a degree or less.

One LFS claims they see different KH and GH at different times of the year but I'm on month 11 and haven't seen a shift.


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[PNWaquarist]

I might be wrong about it being less than .1 degrees. I was doing a test with the API drops and could well have gotten my math completely backward. You should be able to tell me ... I figured if I made the sample 10 times bigger I could get one decimal point more specific. So I took 5 ml tap water and 4.5 ml distilled water, and it still turned color at 1 drop. So I take that to mean it's a tenth of a degree or less.

The problem is that the test solution is too concentrated for your sample, so you would need to dilute your test solution to make that measurement. The way I'd do it would be to add one drop of the test solution to a test tube and then add nine drops of water with an eye-dropper. (We'll assume that the drop volumes between the API dropper and the eye dropper are similar.) Mix the resulting solution and see how many drops of this solution need to be added for the color of your sample to change. Divide that number by 10 and reference the chart in the instructions.

One LFS claims they see different KH and GH at different times of the year but I'm on month 11 and haven't seen a shift.

If their water is coming from a river originating in the Cascades, they may see a KH/GH drop when the snowpack melts in the spring.

 

[trennamw]

The problem is that the test solution is too concentrated for your sample, so you would need to dilute your test solution to make that measurement. The way I'd do it would be to add one drop of the test solution to a test tube and then add nine drops of water with an eye-dropper. (We'll assume that the drop volumes between the API dropper and the eye dropper are similar.) Mix the resulting solution and see how many drops of this solution need to be added for the color of your sample to change. Divide that number by 10 and reference the chart in the instructions.



If their water is coming from a river originating in the Cascades, they may see a KH/GH drop when the snowpack melts in the spring.

That makes sense thanks. Uses less solution than my other approach. It still turned color at 1 drop. I'd go another decimal place but suspect the drop size difference will throw it off.

I'm not sure what the LFS guy was talking about, I've never seen a test above 1 degree hardness. Maybe he sees people from the far flung towns that use groundwater, or wells.


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[apr28]

So basically i have soft water with a ph of 7.6 which will be lowered by bogwood making my a aquarium a good south american biotope.

 

[dalto]

So basically i have soft water with a ph of 7.6 which will be lowered by bogwood making my a aquarium a good south american biotope.

Yep, South American or West African. Just make sure you don't add anything that will lower KH.