HELP! Raising Kh and pH while lowering GH

[Justynkak]

Hi guys,

I think I've encountered a little problem. I have a very low pH and KH and very high Gh.

I've been doing daily 20% water changes for the past 5 days since I read it could be the water in the fishtank, but nothing has changed. I measured it during day, night, before and after water change and it all stays relatively the same. The pH would rise only slightly (from off chart to 6.4) when doing water change but that's about it. My tap water is hard - over 16 degrees and has pH of 7

I haven't had any deaths yet, and I hope none will occur. (2GBR and 8 neos)

I read on the forum that the pH and KH shouldn't be that low. So I am a bit concerned

 

[dalto]

kh declines over time, once the kh gets very low ph will begin to drop. If you have previously not been doing water changes for a while this will happen.

I would test the kh of your tap water. If it is relatively high just keep doing water changes and that should resolve your issue.

 

[Justynkak]

Hi dalto, I've been doing weakly water changes since I set up the fishtank and daily 25% changes for the past 5 days in hope to normalize the parameters,

I let the water sit for a day and night before putting it in the fishtank, i also tried using the water from my brita filter which lowers the GH to 10 degrees, but once i put the water in the fishtank nothing changes.

KH on my tap water is 2 degrees,
GH is off the chart which is up to 16 degreese
pH is 6.8-7 (it is 6.4 straight off the tap and 6.8-7 before putting it in the fishtank)

 

[dalto]

That is some pretty interesting water you have there. I guess it has a high magnesium content?

If you want to keep softer water species you will need either use RO water or mix RO water with your water. There is not an easy chemical way to reduce the amount TDS in the water. At least, not as much as you would need to. 20GH is pretty high.

Alternatively, you could start keeping harder water species and increase your pH and KH.

One last note, most of the devices sold as chemical water softeners would decrease the measure of GH without actually lowering the TDS. These are not really recommended for aquarium purposes.

 

[Justynkak]

Ok so i had a breakthrough! I changed my brita filter and though "ah ill just check again" and eureka! the brita filter changes the GH from way too high to below 4 degrees! so I did another daily 25% and tested the water after hmm 4/5h and the GH is at 8 degrees! and KH has also changed to 3 degrees! PH stayed at 6 as always. Ok so from now on ill use the brita filter.

i live in student dorm so i can't have RO, and i don't have enough money to buy the desktop version. Will the brita and the new parameters be sufficient for the GBR to thrive, or should i take further steps to increase my KH, PH and lower my GH?

 

[dalto]

Nice, 4 deg gh is pretty soft so you should be fine. Your tank gh will continue to drop as you do water changes. Even 8 is probably OK if they are captive bred in more moderate water.

20 is crazy hard though

 

[Justynkak]

Ahh it makes me think that we may have old copper pipes in the house, I'm scared to think they could be lead :O I'll get my building surveying lecturer to check it for me and May have them done this year since it's illegal to have either of those!

Until then I'll just have to stick to brita thank you for ur advice tho!

 

[Matt68005]

My tank with volcanic rock glued to the back always had a lower ph than the ones with pea gravel in the past, just an idea, i heard its a good bio media also, very porus.