GH and KH reading help

[drm315]

I ordered the GH and KH API tests this week and just got them delivered. I'm having trouble understanding the instructions. I also watched a video on youtube that didn't help at all because the guy didn't do what the instruction booklet said.

So, for the KH it says to add drops until the water turns "bright yellow". I counted 20 drops.

For the GH it says to add drops until it turns from orange to green. I counted 11 drops.

Now, I have no idea what these numbers mean because the "conversion chart" in their instructions don't make sense to me. I read in another article that you take the drops and multiply them by 17.9 to get your reading.

Any help would be great.

PS - the reason I ordered this in the first place is because it seemed by ph was not that stable. In the last 3-4 days it has been pretty stable at 6.8-7.0. I'm not that worried about the KH and GH at this point, but if I need to test in the future, I would like to understand the correct way to read the results.

KH is on the left and GH is on the right in the picture.

 

[Barliman]

Yeah, that chart isn't the clearest. Basically, ignore dKH and read the "ppm GH/KH" column. You should be able to find a chart here or somewhere on the web to tell you how hard or soft thoes numbers indicate.

And I have a hard time believing that 20-drop reading for your KH -- that would be liquid granite. Do you have a water quality report from your local water agency available?

 

[drm315]

Yeah, that chart isn't the clearest. Basically, ignore dKH and read the "ppm GH/KH" column. You should be able to find a chart here or somewhere on the web to tell you how hard or soft thoes numbers indicate.

And I have a hard time believing that 20-drop reading for your KH -- that would be liquid granite. Do you have a water quality report from your local water agency available?

I redid the test yesterday and didn't wait until the yellow was "bright yellow"as the directions said, and just when it first turned yellow....Think I got a reading of 9.

 

[TMaier]

Yeah, that chart isn't the clearest. Basically, ignore dKH and read the "ppm GH/KH" column. You should be able to find a chart here or somewhere on the web to tell you how hard or soft thoes numbers indicate.

And I have a hard time believing that 20-drop reading for your KH -- that would be liquid granite. Do you have a water quality report from your local water agency available?

I'm just happy to stay focused and get the number of drop count right.