Low KH...

[Biggen]

Hey guys. It's me again. Well I got the 40 tall setup with flouite in the bottom of the thing. As cloudy as it looks, it appears I am keeping Channel Cats or Crawfish.

Anyway, I just did a KH test on the water. I have two degrees of KH. Pretty darn low. First I have a question on the KH test. I am using the Aquarium Pharm. test kit. As soon as the water in the tube goes yellow, is that the bright yellow they are talking about? After the first drop, it is blue. After the second drop it goes to yellow. This sound like I would have two degrees. I put in another drop and the color didn't seem to change...

I am a little worried that my KH is this low since I will be using the Hagen CO2 units. I know I can buffer the water by adding coral and shells (which I have a ton of). I can also add a stabilizer Hagen makes that is supposed to take care of this as well. With two degrees of KH what would be my best bet?

Right now my pH is 7.0-6.8 (its hard to tell as those two colors are so close together). I will be getting the plants in next week and will hook up the CO2 units when the plants arrive. I would bet since my kH is that low, I will have some pH swings. I won't know for sure until I get the plants in and the CO2 going...

 

[d9hp]

I would start the CO2 units up a week before. It might take that long to get your pH the way you want it.

 

[Biggen]

Yeah, I thought about putting in the Co2 tomorrow just to get it set up and going. I may go ahead a do that.

I decided to hook one of my Magnum 350 Can filters with a micron cartridge inside it to the tank in order to filter out all the dust. It has been running for about 15 mintues now and I can already see a difference.

 

[loganj]

First I have a question on the KH test. I am using the Aquarium Pharm. test kit. As soon as the water in the tube goes yellow, is that the bright yellow they are talking about?

Yes, that's the color you're looking for. When the KH is higher, you may get a lime green color one drop before you get the yellow. With a KH of that low, your water may rapidly go acidic. What pH do you intend to keep the tank? Hardness is relatively easy to raise by using one of the many buffering additives available. The Proper PH products work pretty well as long as you're going up with the pH...they will add some buffer to the water.

 

[Biggen]

Hey LoganJ,

I am going for a pH level of neutral 7.0 or so. I was doing some reading up on several different "buffer" products. This will be a planted tank so I have to make sure everything is phosphate free. I can't use Aquarium Pharm. Proper PH because they use phosphates in their buffers. However, I can go with Hagen's stabilizer or Jungle's stabilizer.

I am seriously thinking about putting a piece of coral into the tank and see what happens. I know that would raise three things: KH (which is good), GH (my water is fairly soft so no problem here), and pH (I am at neutral now). However, with the Co2 injection, I that may be able to keep the KH and pH levels in check.

The only way to do it is to give it a try...

 

[Biggen]

{UPDATE}

I went ahead and added 3 teaspoons of baking soda. It raised my KH by 4 degrees. Since I started at 2dKH, I am now at 6dKH. Not too bad...

Now if I can get my pH down to around 7.0 or a touch less by bubbling in CO2 via the Hagen unit I should have >=20ppm of CO2. I have two Hagen units hooked up to this tank so getting the pH to a stable 7.0 or so shouldn't be difficult. I only have one running now and will hook the other one up next week. By staggering them I should have a close to constant flow of CO2.

Looks like it is beginning to come together.

 

[d9hp]

Yes it is, I am happy for you and your store! I hate to say it though, you really want some better lights. For a really nice display I would go with at least 2 WPG.

 

[Biggen]

I hate to say it though, you really want some better lights

Yeah I know, I know. The problem is that I haven't been able to find much that is suitable for the Eclipse Hood. The 65w Custom Sealife is the only thing I have been able to find. Everything else that is a higher power is ALSO a large size and won't fit inside the hood.

I know I limited myself from the "get go" by purchasing the Eclipse Hood, but I wanted a really "sleek" look. Hopefully 1.6wpg will suffice for some plants. I went ahead and purchased the Aquabotanic "Hard to Kill" package of 20 plants. I should get them in by Wednesday of next week.

I do have a quick question about the light I have that came with the Custom Sealife kit. It is a 50/50 bulb. One half is a 8800K bulb and the other is a Ultra-Actinic. I know that the Ultra-Actinic bulb is mostly for reef systems but it won't hurt using it, will it? I just don't want to spend $30 on another bulb if this is fine. Six months down the road when I replace the bulb I will probably just go with a standard 8800K bulb.

 

[d9hp]

Six months down the road I would get a 6500K bulb, better for plants. The actinic wont hurt, but it wont really help much.

 

[Guest]

Biggen, go with things the way you have planned for now, I think you'll be ok. You are good to go for a low/med. light tank.

Also, dont sweat keeping a perfect 7.0 ph. most of the fish you want will be fine from 6.5 to 7.8 or so. tank bred and raised fish are better at handling ph than wild caught.

 

[Biggen]

Hey Corvuscorax,

dont sweat keeping a perfect 7.0 ph

Actually the only reason I would like to get it to 7.0 or a touch below is because of the relationship of KH, pH, and CO2. With 6dKH and a pH of 7.0, I would have a CO2 level of approx 18ppm. Also with 6dKH and a pH of 6.8, I would have a CO2 level of approx. 28ppm. As you can see its not the fish I am worried about getting the pH correct for, it is actually for the plants. If I can get the pH values in that range, the plants should love me.

Now with that said, I am not going to do anything to the tank except add the CO2. I will not put in and pH UP or ph DOWN to get to my desired pH. I will simply rely on my Hagen CO2 units to deliver CO2 to the tank and hope they do the job of lowering the pH to around those values. If the pH happens to stabilize at 7.0 or so, that is great. If not, I am not going to touch it. Water chemistry is not something I am good at... Besides from what I have read, people who tend to play with it a lot tend to mess things up more than they help.

 

[Guest]

Now with that said, I am not going to do anything to the tank except add the CO2. I will not put in and pH UP or ph DOWN to get to my desired pH. I will simply rely on my Hagen CO2 units to deliver CO2 to the tank and hope they do the job of lowering the pH to around those values. If the pH happens to stabilize at 7.0 or so, that is great. If not, I am not going to touch it. Water chemistry is not something I am good at... Besides from what I have read, people who tend to play with it a lot tend to mess things up more than they help.

Bingo! I agree 100%. proceed as planned, let us know how it turns out.