Gh & Kh

[fishmadmike]

) Hi,
I have recently set up a 300lt community tank. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate tests all fine but my Ph is 8.0, Kh is 18dkh and the Gh is 12dgh I am losing fish and there are no outward signs and no set pattern I carry out a 25pc water change weekly

I am thinking it must be down to these readings. What are the best readings that I sould be trying to achieve and what is the best way to do it

Thanx

 

[black angel]

with those readings so high your ammonia will be more toxic even at low readings and if the temperature is quite high then that significantly raises the toxicity.
what kind of fish have you got? for your basic community tank, i'm assuming tetras and other american species, which all prefer the lower end of the scale.
your tank would be ideal for african cichlids i think.
the gh and kh is way beyond what a tank should be. most aquariums have a kh of 4-10 and gh of 6-12. i dont know if using something like peat would bring those values down with the ph or getting an RO unit, but these are expensive so hopefully someone with more knowledge of water will help you more. good luck.

 

[The-Wolf]

if you add peat to the filter, that will lower the pH and kH somewhat.
to "treat" the gH problem there are water softeners available, but as BlackAngel has said RO would be the best way to deal with it.
try adding 30% RO water and see if that brings the gH down.

 

[nagus]

With a tank of that size and water readings of yours go with African cichlids - you won't regret it!

 

[black angel]

RO water is available to buy at most fish pet shops and my own lfs has it for 50p a gallon. an idea if you have the buckets and are close to one selling it, as you could try it for a water change or two and see if that makes a difference.

 

[fishmadmike]

Thanks for the replies I will try your suggestions because I would like to stick with the community tank if possible I have Gouramies, Neons, Danio's, Clown loach, Plec,

 

[sinistral]

Actually, I don't understand why the thought is immediately that the KH and GH are the culprits. I am not aware of a problem that could result directly from having a stable KH or GH in that range. Most fish are tolerant of a range of KH and GH as long as they are acclimated-- if you got the fish from your LFS, it seems likely that they would be acclimated to your local tapwater.

I'd be curious to know exactly what your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings are, and also a little more about what fish you have in your tank. Also hearing a bit more about the history of the tank would be helpful too. If you could also describe what fish you've lost so far and how they died, that might be helpful.

There might be something simpler to correct which is the source of your problem before you embark on altering your tap water chemistry.

EDIT: I missed the post in which you included what fish you have. How many of each fish do you have?

 

[fishmadmike]

The tank has been set up for about 10 weeks and the fish itroduced gradually over a six week period after the tank had been allowed to settle for two weeks with the Danios

Ammonia, Nitrate, and nitrite, all read zero. I found out today that my lfs also run with no Nitrate and have a Ph of 7.5 He seems to be of the same opinion as you about the water but was struggling to come up with an answer. He has suggested trying to dilute with RO water to see if it helps.
I have purchased fish from various areas and the deaths are not just from one supplier

I Have 1 Krib, 11 Neon Tetra no deaths, Have 3 Clown Loach (most recent) no deaths,
2 corrydoras no deaths,

Had 10 Danios lost 2, Had 8 Guppies lost 4, Had 2 gold Gourami lost 1, Lost 2 Pearl Gourami, Lost 3 Dwarf Gourami, 2 Plec lost 1,

I did suffer a bout of fin rot which i treated and some of the fish affected got better. I believe this was the reason for losing a couple of them but there are no outward signs for the others and some deaths have been between a few days and four weeks

 

[Slyspy]

The tank has been set up for about 10 weeks and the fish itroduced gradually over a six week period after the tank had been allowed to settle for two weeks with the Danios

Ammonia, Nitrate, and nitrite, all read zero. I found out today that my lfs also run with no Nitrate and have a Ph of 7.5 He seems to be of the same opinion as you about the water but was struggling to come up with an answer. He has suggested trying to dilute with RO water to see if it helps.
I have purchased fish from various areas and the deaths are not just from one supplier

I Have 1 Krib, 11 Neon Tetra no deaths, Have 3 Clown Loach (most recent) no deaths,
2 corrydoras no deaths,

Had 10 Danios lost 2,  Had 8 Guppies lost 4, Had 2 gold Gourami lost 1, Lost 2 Pearl Gourami, Lost 3 Dwarf Gourami, 2 Plec lost 1,

I did suffer a bout of fin rot which i treated and some of the fish affected got better. I believe this was the reason for losing a couple of them but there are no outward signs for the others and some deaths have been between a few days and four weeks

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No nitrAte? Is your tank planted?

10 weeks is a short time in which to introduce so many fish especially sinc the 2 week run in with the danios would not be enough to cycle the tank. Are you sure of your readings? I am sceptical to be honest.

 

[@ombomb]

I have recently set up a 300lt community tank. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate tests all fine but my Ph is 8.0, Kh is 18dkh and the Gh is 12dgh I am losing fish and there are no outward signs and no set pattern I carry out a 25pc water change weekly

Mike I assume you live near me, as they are pretty much EXACTLY my water stats. I think you need to look beyond them to find the casue of the death of your fish though as I have Clown Loaches, Blue Rams and Lamp Eye Killifish in mine and they are all healthy despite being fussy about the water they live in.

I am also struggling to find any Nitrates, have you tested your tap water? There's none in mine at all and I'm on the verge of adding Nitrates as I have a heavily planted tank.

When was the last death in the tank?

 

[fishmadmike]

I do have quite a few plants in the tank and I have been adding Nutrafin plant gro weekly and they seem to be doing well.

I thought that if my Nitrite, nitrate, Ammonia readings were ok this meant that my water was cycling fine and it was ok to add more fish. And they would be reading high if there was a problem??. If this is the case, how will I know when its right if my colour test says it's ok

The lastest fish died today which I have had for about 4 weeks.

 

[sinistral]

Thanks for posting those details. In order for your tank to be cycled, you have to see an ammonia spike, a nitrite spike, a fall of both ammonia and nitrites to zero, and then the appearance of nitrates over time.

If your tank is very heavily planted, it's not unknown to see no nitrates as the plants could be utilising them as quickly as they are produced. If this is the case, I suspect you may have planted the tank heavily prior to beginning the cycle (fishlessly or with fish) and the plants utilised *all* nitrogenous waste-- ammonia and nitrites included. I wonder if you could post details of your cycling too...?

Could you tell us more details about your tank setup? I am not sure what I am looking for exactly (ammolock? dechlorinator/dechloraminator? other water additives? temperature? location in your house? what else comes to mind?), but there may be something about your tank history or maintenance which could be accidentally contributing to an unhealthy tank. Slyspy noted that it could also be new tank syndrome, which is a possibility of course.

EDIT: Sorry to hear about your fish losses-- I know it can feel pretty devastating as you're starting out.

 

[fishmadmike]

Hi
300l tank with Aqua one CF 1200 external filter containing Filter matting, sintered glass, and plastic balls (sorry don't know their correct name) all this media came with the filter.

Tank is the living room at the side of french doorswhich we don't use, Water temp is between 75 and 78 and the plants went in after a week

25pc Water changes done weekly. Chemicals which I have used, Tetra Aqua safe to remove chlorine, Nutrafin plant gro, and Filter aid.

I kept a record of my readings from when I set up if this helps. I was only using the dip strip type tester at the time so I don't have any ammonia readings. I have since moved on to the drip testers.


Date Nitrate Nitrite

29/5 25 -- 0

3/6 25 -- 1

6/6 25 -- 1 (Added Filter Aid)

10/6 50 -- 1.5

14/6 35 -- 0.5 (25pc Water change & added Filter Aid)

18 /6 12 -- 0

26/6 25 -- 0

4/7 0 -- 0 Started using drip testers

thanks for your time