How Important Is Kh & Gh?

[taffia1]

I've been keeping tropical fish for a few years and inevitibly had the odd death either due to fish age or being ignorant of the actual fish I was keeping and the tank size requirements.  Basically I have a red tailed black shark in a 94 litre which is more of a square shape so not very long.  Now I have more understanding I have invested and am setting up a 39 inch 200l tank to rehome my RTBS and through my research I have just learned about water buffers and the triangle between ph, kh & GH.  Previously the main aspects I've monitored were water temperature and PH and just let my fish get on with it (whilst doing water changes).  Should I really pay close attantion to KH & GH or is trying to alter these aspects more hastle than what it's worth?  I only want to keep things like dwarf neon Rainbows and my concern is if I try to alter KH & GH then I could just make matters worse.  Are these parameters usually adjsuted when keeping specialist fish?
 
any advise is most welcome.

 

[bullit]

There normally raised when your ph is low for african species. What ph do you have in the tank?

 

[Zikofski]

well i have a RTS and other fish in a 330L tank i have not measured PH for over a year now and i have never measured Kh or GH no idea what it is in my area, may be the reason behind some of my plants not growing but other than that, i don't see there being a need to measure these stats unless the fish you are getting are Extremely sensitive to a particular environment but most tropical fish don't need these requirements from my understanding
 
thats my opinion on the matter hope your RTS has a good move to the 200L he will love it

 

[taffia1]

I cant remember my PH, somewhere around 6.5 - 7 i think, I'll test it when home from work and post the result.  My main concern is I'm moving to a well planted tank with co2 injection and I'm worried about the co2 having drastic changes on my PH values.
 
Zikofski - what are your ''other fish'' I'm looking for suitible tankmates and was thinking of a school of neon rainbows

 

[Zikofski]

hmm okay i aded co2 to my tank i do know it dose change the PH but my fish did not mind that, maybe why my vallis don't grow anymore but they did, pic is in the sig and the fish are under it as well, RTS are peacfull fish when they are on there own, aka no other RTS, i have cory's angels, clown loach's and green tiger barbs, no problems with my RTS he is more active than most of my fish tbh always out and about but i have herd they do tend to hide away a lot, with the co2, you shouldn't have a problem to be honest wit hthe RTS, adding co2 will lower the PH to around 6.5 i think of the top of my head, which is ideal for 99% of all fish

 

[shepherd88]

I had this debate messing with my head for a while when i moved to african cichlids.

My tapwater ph is 8.0 and my kh was fairly low.
I added coral rock and substrate which raised my kh..

I think kh keeps the ph buffered so if your kh is low it makes the ph unstable and cause more chance of a ph crash.

Now i have gone back to a community tank as cichlids were too aggressive for me..

I removed all water and just filled with tap water with my tap safe....and then recycled.

Just tested now and my kh is 6 drops to turn blue to yellow( if that makes sense) and ph is at 8.0 still.


My fish seem all happy though i know my ph is a little high......i think a stable ph is better than trying to alter it.

 

[Zikofski]

i have no idea what Kh means or stands for tbh i have yet to worry about that, i used to worry about ph but not i don't bother, from experience, fish don't mind what ph they live in as long as its reasonable, 8 was the same as mine, i have yet tested my ph since adding co2 to my tank, may test it next week see if its dropped but yes you are correct, a stable ph is better than trying to adjust it, if your fish are alive now in your ph then they will stay alive in your ph unless something happens obviously, fish seem very adaptable to different ph

 

[shepherd88]

I think the only problem with keeping fish in a ph range outside their normal is that they may be more susceptable to ilness..


Saying that nearly all fish sold now are captive bred and therefore know nothing about their natural environment