How to raise GH

[Koppriecht]

I am cycling a new 110 gal tank for African Cichlids. The water from my tap has a PH of 8.2 (I think) but the GH is 0. How do I raise my GH levels? Also, is it possible I am not reading the API test for PH correctly? Seems strange that the levels are so lopsided. Here is a pic from tonight:

 

[Delapool]

Does seem strange, I thought gh would be higher. Around 8 I would of guessed for ph. Have you had the lfs check it?

Edit - check gh I mean.

 

[Koppriecht]

had the lfs check it?

Not sure what "lfs" is.

 

[Delapool]

Sorry - local fish shop

 

[Koppriecht]

Got it. I will check with the lfs tomorrow. I went to a different pet store today and they said that they never test for gh and it was not that important if the ph is correct. Seems like it is important and I want to know what is going on anyway.

 

[Delapool]

Got it. I will check with the lfs tomorrow. I went to a different pet store today and they said that they never test for gh and it was not that important if the ph is correct. Seems like it is important and I want to know what is going on anyway.

Good question. I only check it every so often with strips but I really want to get the liquid test kit. I test more for kh than gh. I also generally want to know what is going on even if after a while the test doesn't get used so much.

 

[mudraker]

What brand/type of GH test are you using? 0 hardness is a little hard to believe.

Epsom salts will increase GH. If you are positive your GH is 0, take a very small pinch of Epsom salts and dissolve in a quart or so of water. Mix it well and test it after letting it sit for awhile. If it still tests 0, it could very well be an indication that your GH is very, very hard.

You could also try getting an LFS that specializes in salt water tanks (not a box store) test the GH.

I recently brought home fish from an out of town LFS with a high PH of 8. The hardness was over 20, I can't remember the exact number, but it was off the charts. The GH was so high I thought I flubbed the drop test somehow and gave up at 15 drops. I redid the test against my own tap water (a low 4) and redid the bag water. It was ridiculous how high the GH was.

You might want to try the GH test on some bottled spring water to see what results you get. Yours might be so high it goes off the charts, especially with that high PH.

Just an FYI, the serious breeders I know consider GH matching when acclimating new fish much more important than PH.

 

[dalto]

Are you sure your water isn't passing through a residential water softener?

If that is the case I would be careful about raising the GH artificially. Water that has passed through a water softener has a low GH but a higher TDS.

 

[Koppriecht]

Well... I went to the lfs to have my tank water tested. The GH was 9ish. I guess I have a faulty GH test bottle. I made sure to shake the contents of the bottle before I tested and got the same result. Oh well. Sorry for the hassle everyone.