Kh And Gh Test - Bit Of Advice Regarding Colours

[cormack12]

Hey,
 
Quick bit of advice really. Got my API kh/gh test through today and just tested my tap water. The tests went OK but the only guidance I really had on the leaflet was:
 
KH - wait until it turns bright yellow
GH - Wait until it turns from orange to green
 
So I went ahead, now I could see a faint yellow tinge after two drops for KH but it did take three more drops to get 'bright' yellow. I'm just wondering if bright is a keyword here?
 
The second test says when it changes from orange to green. Well I saw an orange titn on the first drop then it went to very faint green. There was no emphasis on the shade/intensity so that was much less. Overall my readings are:
 
PH: 6.4
KH: 107.4
GH: 53.7
 
The local water company rates my water as very soft. Are these values in keeping with that? Does anything look strange - have I ran the tests OK given my description?

 

[Essjay]

It is the colour change that is important not the intensity. With soft water it only takes a few drops to change colour so it never becomes very intense. One or two drops in a tube is pretty dilute so the colour is quite washed out. It's when you have hard water that takes 10+ drops that the colour is really intense.
 
The KH colour change is quite easy to see even with only 3 drops like mine. The GH colour change is a bit more difficult with pale colours. Shake after each drop, remove the lid and stand the tube on something white. If you look down through the tube you'll be looking through a couple of inches of liquid rather than the half inch looking through the side of the tube, and the colurs will look stronger - easier to see when the colour changes.

 

[Tartan-Guppy]

essjay's pretty much spot on and it sounds like you did them correctly
I live in a really soft water areas as well and it is difficult to measure base water hardness with the drop-test kits. Only one drop of the KH solution turns yellow in my test tube.
Roughly anything under 60 ppm or mg/L is seen as soft (approx 0 - 3 dGH) so your GH figure ties up with that as it equates to 3 dGH
KH is a measure of the alkalinity which is, amongst other things, the capability to buffer pH. Your 107.4 = 6 dKH. I think anything above 3 or 4 is fine unless you need it specifically higher 
It really all depends on what fish you want or have as to whether you need to do anything about your water hardness.
 
I've just started using Sera mineral salt to harden my water for my guppies (instead of a DIY mix). My Base level is 4 dGH & 0-1 dKH and I boost it to 15 gDH & 5 dKH.

 

[cormack12]

Thanks that's helpful I'm planning on adding guppies first too