Readings help understanding them

[Drewbie]

Okay so I found out today (tested my water) that I have the following

PH 6.4
KH 120

Alklian 80

Can anyone tell me how to tell if this is good for plants?

The alklain says its low on the test kit for fish??

How do you fix that.

 

[runninwoof]

oky doky,

plants grow in lots of diferent water parameters!

you may want get a test that test ammonia nitrates and nitrites also.

yes you sure can grow plants with that ph and hardness.

i dont like to "fix" hardness or ph in my water, i feel that leaving it constant is the best stratagy

 

[jsoong]

What are you using for your tests? KH *IS* Alkalinity, so it is kinda strange to see different numbers .... At any rate, KH of 80 or 120 is adequate for most tanks so i won't change a thing.

 

[Drewbie]

okay

I am using Mardel 5 in 1

my Nitrate was a bit high but my water change was past due so I did it,.

My Nitrite was fine

my hardness was 120

my alkalinity was 80

my ph was 6.4

I thought hardness was kh.

The test strip says Alkalinity was low and said I should add buffer up.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Hardness is likely GH, and alkalinity is KH. 2 different things, KH being more important IMO

 

[Purrbox]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate. I definately wouldn't adjust anything based on their results, use them as an indicator of what needs further testing at most. Reguardless those numbers are perfectly fine for fish and plants. There's no need to fight your water in an effort to try to achieve some "ideal" parameters.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah like Purrbox said those numbers should be just fine for any plants or fish you put in there. Absolutely no point fighting water that will gradually even itself out.

 

[Drewbie]

Thanks guys / gals