Water Chemistry

[easyian]

I did a major test on my tank today and found that kh and gh are rather low. I'm wondering if i need to worry about this at all. I have gotten some excellent facts from this site and found out that a low gh means poor buffering. I'm wondering about when i have a full load in the tank will i have to worry about the ph and such?

These are todays readings.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm
Ph 7.0
kh 10
gh 20
i didn't check iron or calcium.

Thanks
Ian

[shawmutt]

When you say the gH is 20 and the kH is 10, are you talking parts per million or dH (degrees of hardness). If you are using the kit that you keep adding drops until the water changes color, you are measuring dH--in which case the gH is very high. According to http://www.mongabay.com/fish/chemistry.htm , the scale is as follows:

very soft 0 to 70 ppm 0 to 4 GH (dH)
soft 70 to 135 ppm 4 to 8 GH (dH)
medium hard 35 to 200 ppm 8 to 12 GH(dH)
hard 200 to 350 ppm 12 to 20 GH (dH)
very hard over 350 ppm over 20 GH (dH)

as you can see, you fall into the hard/very hard category.

As far as kH, http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html states that "A tank's KH should be high enough to prevent large pH swings in your tank over time. If your KH is below roughly 4.5 dH, you should pay special attention to your tank's pH"

[easyian]

I am using the Hagen tester for (it says) gH and kH(came in the Hagen master kit). It didn't mention anything about dH but it is the kit you describe. I have to keep adding drops until the sample changes to the desired color. But when I perform both tests the water in the test tube turns to the finish color straight away(first drop). Then comparing the results, it says that you are to times the # of drops by ten for kH and # of drops by 20 for gH. So from what they are saying my tests(according to the kit) are kh >10ppm and gH >20ppm. Very soft water and very little buffering capacity. But if I am measuring dH then I'm in the hard water category(which doesn't sound right). I just don't know. Confusing to say the least.

[shawmutt]

Wow, I did some research for you on the conversions, and what a complicated topic! The most comprehensive site I could find was http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/gh_kh_conv_cal.cfm . This site does the conversions for you. I use the tetra hardness tester, and use the dH scale, which for me is by far the easiest. Just count the drops 1 = 1% dH, 2 = 2% dH, etc...

As far as your readings, I have a question for you. What kind of water did you use to fill up your tank?

[easyian]

It was straight tap water