Hey I’m new

[Al1ce]

GH is the one that affects fish directly. KH can affect tfish indirectly - it stabilises pH so if KH is low, the pH can fall.
If the GH is 120, that must be ppm. It converts to 6.7 dH, and is at the top end of soft water. But the KH is very low - 20 ppm converts to 1 dH.
Despite what test kits say, there is no ideal range for GH and KH. Some fish need hard water, or very hard water, or soft water etc.

Unfortunately, a GH of 120 ppm is a bit too low for guppies; they need a GH of over 200 ppm to be healthy. If you want to stay with them, you will need to 'harden' the water. This can be done by using a form of calcium carbonate in the tank - coral, limestone etc. Or by adding Rift Lake salts to the water. The latter must be added to the new water at every water change at exactly the same amount per litre or gallon to keep the amount in the tank stable.
The other alternative is to let the guppies live out their lives, and get fish which need the same hardness as your tap water.

Thanks for the info I have included a picture of the test the fishery marked it with a pen for me and said as long as it falls between the black lines, your water is good, so Iv had it like this for over 6 months with guppies, maybe I need a better test kit I’m not sure how accurate the test is, if anyone can recommend one? In the mean time I have aquarium salt, would this help? I will order some of the calcium you mentioned, really want to get this right especially for when they go in the new tank when it’s ready. Will Api propper PH 7.5 work if I buy it? I need to know what to buy please we love our fish and like to take care of them so all the advice is gratefully appreciated

 

[Ingrid]

Tetra have a 6 in 1 test strip that can be used with their app and this is quite useful but in general I think liquid tests are more accurate

 

[Essjay]

You could see if your water provider's website has your hardness somewhere. If they do give it, you need a number and the unit. That will be more accurate than the test strips.

 

[Al1ce]

Tetra have a 6 in 1 test strip that can be used with their app and this is quite useful but in general I think liquid tests are more accurate

Thanks I will have a look at these, I heard the liquid is best but which brand? I usually use amazon if anyone can recommend, i did a fresh 50% water change today maybe I should have mentioned this when doing a test, and I can’t find a calcium that was recommended is there a name for it or brand? Thanks

 

[Al1ce]

You could see if your water provider's website has your hardness somewhere. If they do give it, you need a number and the unit. That will be more accurate than the test strips.

I never knew you could do that, so you mean contact united utilities for the hardiness in my water? When you say a number and a unit I don’t understand what you mean by this, do you meant the tank unit? I read online you can put bicarbonate of soda in to raise ph will this help also? I can’t get to fisheries until Tuesday thanks for your reply

 

[Al1ce]

I never knew you could do that, so you mean contact united utilities for the hardiness in my water? When you say a number and a unit I don’t understand what you mean by this, do you meant the tank unit? I read online you can put bicarbonate of soda in to raise ph will this help also? I can’t get to fisheries until Tuesday thanks for your reply

I just checked this on their website, it says Mod. SOFT and Clarke 5.25 so that explains why my water hardiness is low, maybe I am making a mistake also by doing 50% water changes to often and scrubbing all the ornaments and filter, maybe I’m being to clean maybe should I just rinse the plants and ornaments, I will have a look around the site see if I can find the right topic, thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Essjay]

Water companies use a variety of units to measure hardness. I have seen Degrees Clarke, degrees French, degrees German (which is also called dH or dGH), mg/l calcium, mg/l calcium oxide, mg/l calcium carbonate (also called ppm), grains per gallon etc. We need to know which one they use so we can convert the number, if necessary, into the two units used by fish profiles. At least with tank sizes we only have litres/gallons and cm/inches to worry about

5.25 deg Clarke converts to 4.2 dH and 75 ppm (those are the two units used in fish keeping), and it is soft. [Incidentally, this is why we always ask for numbers. The water company calls your hardness medium soft; words can be misleading]

As for test kits, most of us use the API master test kit.


You do need to do 50% weekly water changes, but the decor does not need to be scrubbed unless it gets covered in algae. Biofilm will grow over all the decor, and this is home to many useful micro-organisms. So unless the decor is really messy, you don't need to clean it.

 

[Al1ce]

I’ve tested the PH And it is showing as 8