low gH and low kH

[kagentx]

hi guys, i'm back and i've done some water testing on my tap water and my tank water. It seems like my 50 gallon planted tank with 3 wpg has a low gH reading and kH reading:

pH 6.2 or 6.4
phophate 1.0ppm
kH 1 degree
gH 1 degree
nitrate 5 ppm
CO2 was 16ppm when all my DIY CO2 was running but now its down to 10ppm.

i put 1.5 ml of tropica master growth each day. and feed the fish twice a day with food that it can finish in 30 seconds. I recently added mesh bags with crushed corals in it, it was only about 4 hours. Maybe the effects hasn't kicked in?

Does gH has anything to do with my stargrass not thriving? The green color of its new leafs seems to be fading, instead of green, it has white color in it. Is this dued to under dosage?

 

[kagentx]

my tap water's reading after 24 hours is the followings

kH at 2 degree
gH at 1 degree

 

[vega]

Do you add iron into your tank?

 

[betowess]

Epsom salts can help raise the GH (available at any phamacy) at half teaspoon per 10 gallons water. Or Seachem Equilibrium which is more spendy. The CC will bring it up, albeit more slowly and it will keep it up if in sufficient quanity. It takes some time. Does it have running water on it? Best if inside a cannister filter.

 

[madasafish]

Crushed coral does not have as fast an effect as baking soda or epsom salts, as a much lesser surface area interacts with the water. With tiny crushed particles, as in baking soda, the pH and KH jump very quickly--thousands of times more surface area is available to interact with the water than when the soda is a large chunk of solid, like the coral is.

So, I'd wait. The coral is obviously starting to kick in, and will no doubt continue to work, and will probably have greater effects, as time goes by.

 

[TankGirl]

I agree, and I have found the CC to be a safe and easy way to handle this issue without worrying about fluctuations at water change time.

 

[madasafish]

Right on.

 

[kagentx]

ok i got my kH is now 4 degree and my pH is 7! what should i do now?
for some reason, my water cleared after the crush corals were added...

 

[TankGirl]

Crank up your CO2, post haste, and monitor KH and pH to determine your CO2 ppm. Shoot for 25ppm, because you are at risk of growing some serious algae if you don't get some CO2 in there soon.

 

[medge00]

ditto what tankgirl said

 

[kagentx]

my plants seems to be doing fine now, the are pearling. kH 3 pH 7 gH 1 nitrate 7ppm... should i continue the water change every two days? the stargrass are still rotting =/ ...