Finally got my test kit...

[Mr Burns]

I ordered the Hagen master kit over the weekend from BigAl's. I immediately tested the gH, kH, and pH. for the gH, i have to add drop to 5ml of water until it turns blue. i then take the number of drops added, multiply it by 20, and that gives me my ppm. The same thing goes for the kH, except i multiply the number of drops by 10. Correct me if i'm wrong with the ppm to degree conversion. I'm actually surprised that my numbers turned out this low, but maybe I made a mistake. Let's see if these make sense...

Straight from the tap
•gH - 100mg/L - (5.6 dgH)
•kH - 60mg/L - (3.4 dkH)
•pH - I used the high range test and it came out purple! there is no purple on the chart...it goes to a dark blue and that's it.

assuming those numbers are correct, what does it mean when i have those gH and kH reading and a pH above 8.6? is that even possible??

i have a small fish bowl filled with water that will sit until tomorrow night and i'll test again. there are already tons of little bubbles along the sides of the glass. any idea what that indicates?

 

[Guest]

The bubbles are oxygen. They will disapate in a couple of days.

Try testing again after your water stands 24 hours. You might also test PH with the standard PH drops, rather than the high range, to see if you get a reading that is on the scale.

One thing I would like to mention is make sure you wash your test vials and caps good after every test to keep from cross contaminating.

In example.......Say a randum vial you used last time to test was for KH and you did'nt wash it good. Next time you test, that vial might be used to test your PH. Seeing how the vial still has residue left from a previous KH test, it might throw off the PH reading you are currently trying to test.

I'm not familar with Hagen test, but if it is the fill the vial with water and add "X" amount of drops for a given test. Make sure your consistant on the amount of water in your test vials. Also make sure your consistant in your drops. An extra drop or, a drop short on a test can really throw your test off.

Remember, consistant accuracy is very important when water testing. HTH

 

[Mr Burns]

i kept careful track of the consistency of drops and amount of water in the vials. i've already started keeping a journal of the test procedures and results. also, the vials (there are 5 included) were rinsed out with tap water before i started, then rinsed and dried thoroughly after i did the tests.

i also tested with the regular pH drops and they were off the scale. i'll call water works tomorrow and see what their test stats are. i was really surprised to see the hardness measurements that low, but still have the pH up super high.

 

[betowess]

Well, its not all bad news... if that's the case and you have that nice low KH, at least your CO2 can handily bring the pH down once you have your pressurized cranking. But it seems really high re: pH. Also, you might want to verify the accuracy of your kit's pH test on someone else's tank who's pH can be confirmed.

 

[Mr Burns]

good idea. i will be ecstatic if my kh is actually that low...crushed coral is better than an RO unit anyday. but i am very skeptical because everybody around here knows that we have hard water. for the pH, i have an aquarium pharmaceuticals test kit, so i'll test the tap with that and compare.

 

[AquariumFreak]

crushed coral is better than an RO unit anyday

Crushed coral placed in the filter will bring down the kh?

Also when I have been testing my water I have been using the aquarium pharmaceutical test kits... I hope I am doing it right. When I test my GH and KH I just count the number of drops I put in and I thought that was my dGH and dKH... am I doing it wrong?

Jeff

 

[Mr Burns]

i meant it is much less complicated and expensive to bring up the the water's hardness than it is to lower. a small bag of crushed coral is nothing compared to the price of an RO unit, plus all i have to do is fill a small net or some panty hose with the coral and drop it into the top basket of my xp3. done deal.

what do your directions say? mine were very clear on determining the hardness in ppm, then i converted it to degrees. for the gH, it took five drops to change colors, multiplied by 20 is 100, then divided by 17.8 gives me 5.6 degrees. i'm not sure if the kH ppm gets divided by 17.8, but i found a conversion chart and went off of that. it still seems inaccurate, but it's better than nothing and there is a decent margin for error as far as plants are concerned.

i used the aquarium pharaceuticals pH test on some tap water today. it still is off the charts. by that test, it's at least 8.0. a good digital meter would be nice, but not worth the price.

 

[FishyDan]

there are already tons of little bubbles along the sides of the glass. any idea what that indicates?

As water passes through the pipes, it is under pressure. The O2 in the water is compresses and goes into the water. When you let the water out of the tap, it is now not under pressure and the O2 forms into bubbles and goes away. Depending on how many bubbles you have and how long you let your water set and how much water you change, it can cause problems for your fish to breath. The O2 comes out of solution and forms on everything, including your fish gills. De-chol chemicals will not help this problem. You must let the o2 go out of the water. I always let my change water set overnite and stir it several times to help get rid of it. Years ago before I learned it, I killed several fish because of the bubbles on their gills.

 

[AquariumFreak]

I'll have to re-read the directions again... but I thought they said each drop equals a degree..

 

[Mr Burns]

that might be true. i added five drops and ended up with a gH of 5.6dh

 

[Mr Burns]

i just went on a shopping spree! i ordered the epoxy for my tank, the mounts for my diy reactor, the parts for my moonlights, and a hanna checker 1 digital pH meter. $20 for a hanna meter, i thought that was pretty good....

 

[Mr Burns]

I just tested the water that has been resting for 24 hours. the results:

same thing as the tap :|

the gH came out around 100ppm (5.6*) and the kH is about 60ppm (3.4*). pH is still whacky. i used one vial to test with the high pH and another to test the low pH. neither one made any sense. the low pH turned out blue (off the scale) and the high pH turned grey with a slight tint of green (off the scale). haha..maybe our water is just drain opener...

 

[betowess]

On the Aquarium Pharm tests for KH you add one drop, cap it, shake it and the water will turn slightly blue. Next you add another drop, cap, shake it, deeper blue. keep adding one drop at a time, capping and shaking each drop. When the blue changes color to a mid to bright yellow that is the stopping point. Your degrees hardness is the number of drops you have added. Each drop = one degree hardness To figure parts per million of carbonate hardness multiply dKH by 17.9.

The same procedure is done for GH, except the starting color which emerges is a real pale orange/yellow which gets a little deeper with each drop. The stopping point is when the vial color is a weak dull green. Same program to figure degrees hardness for general hardness aka dGH. HTH. Bob

 

[Mr Burns]

that's how my hagen tests are, except gh starts pink and turns blue, kh starts blue and turns yellow, and i multiply the number of drops by 10 or 20 to get the ppm of kh and gh, respectively. i'll pick up the AP gh/kh tests tomorrow just to make sure my tests aren't bad. i'm still surprised the readings are considered 'soft,' that blew me away.

 

[Guest]

Burns,

No need in picking up AP's test kits. Just use the Hagen's you have. Other wise, your simply wasting money. When you could be spending it on other things in your new tank.

IMO your trying to hard or simply not fully grasping the test instructions.

Relax, take a couple of deep breaths.

Feel better?

Good

Now, go reread your Hagan test kit instructions. For now throw converting PPM out the window.

OK, your doing great. Now scroll up and reread betowess post on testing GH and KH ( I know he/she uses AP, but you've already stated your hagan works the same) As betowess said, add a drop, cap, shake wait a minute etc... etc..... till you get your reading. Record how many drops it takes to change the color of the water (remember one drop = one degree).

Vola........that's your dGH and dKH, it's that simple.

You may now return to your normal state of mind.

LOL.....sorry Burns, had to bust your chops a little. As for your PH off the charts, I'm stumped. Best I can recall your using AP's PH test. Thats the same test I use for PH. I went and looked at the scale for purple, it's 8.8+ YIKES! You drink this water on a daily bases?

Hang in there dude. Sometimes it's confussing and stressful, but it does get better (especially after you get past all those darn algae blooms when first learning about a planted tank 8O ). Remember, learn the basics and everything else will be much easier to understand

 

[Mr Burns]

it's all good - my chops are unbustable

i'm cool, just a little confused why i got these results. i take that back. i'm not confused. shocked and happy would be a better description.

i followed the instructions exactly. ppm/degrees..it's all the same. my main concern was the chance that the tests might be bad. i have lived in this house for 16 years and have always heard people in this era talk about how hard the water is. were they right? who knows, but there are a lot of people in this era with water softeners. a gh of 5 and a kh of 3 should not warrant the need for a water softener. and if the buffering capacity was that low, wouldn't that contradict what the pH should be. if the buffering capacity was higher, i could understand a high pH. but 3dkH???

$5 isn't going to ruin me, i promise. i would rather be certain the tests are good. if it does break me though, i'll send you an email saying that i'm moving in with you

btw, betowess is a man named bob.

and yes, i drink the water. a lot, mostly through a Pur ('pure') filter. i really should get a berkey water purifier though. i don't like the idea of consuming flouride and whoknowswhatelse. and then the stuff about dilluted VX getting dumped into the delaware river? 8O dilluted VX is still VX. who knows what's in the dirty ohio.

as for algae blooms... bring 'em on... i think i have enough info/knowledge to deal with them, how/why algae turns up and where to keep my levels, etc. i know they will happen, but i'm not going to freak out over it.

 

[Guest]

Hummm....

I might be able to rearange for a large tank. You mind sleeping on the couch Mr Burns?

I'm by no means a water chemist. I certainly see your point on your waters GH,KH,PH not making since.

You taking your standing tap water test through the PUR water filter?

As far as the algae blooms. They will come in due time

 

[Mr Burns]

the PUR filter is only on the kitchen sink. the tank water comes from the faucet in the bathroom just down the hall from my room. that's what was tested, straight out and rested for 24 hours. heck, there is still some standing after 48 hours. want me to test that?

 

[betowess]

Have you got the stats from the local water district. That might be illuminating. Just a thought. Hope its that soft. The local water district may be buffering it somehow. Hopefully without phosphates. Of course there is phosguard etc. Maybe its just soft. Yahoo.

 

[Mr Burns]

i was meaning to call them today by i had a major computer problem, plus a local band asked me to design a promo flyer for them ASAP. i'll have to wait until monday.

phosphate tests show ~.25ppm for both tap and rested.

...but is there is some confusion on the instructions. the tray card says three drops of each reagent, but the instruction booklet says three drops of #1 and #2 and one drop of #3. i'll probably have to send hagen an email unless one of you knows which is right.