Kh, Gh & Ph Levels

[ncjharris]

water that is delivered via your tap is delivered under a certain amount of pressure

Hence when you fill a tank from new with tap water, you'll get alot of bubbles on the tank surfaces.

 

[Bloo]

OK, here are my straight from tap readings - tomorrow I'll post the water that's been sitting overnight and I'll just amend my post :

pH - 7.4
kH - 10
gH - 16

 

[zig]

Leave the water sit longer or if you want agitate the water this will quicken the process to shake out the excess gases, it will drop back to normal levels eventually where you will get a reading of 3-4ppm co2.

Edit: This post is directed at JDS.

 

[JDS]

Leave the water sit longer or if you want agitate the water this will quicken the process to shake out the excess gases, it will drop back to normal levels eventually where you will get a reading of 3-4ppm co2.

Edit: This post is directed at JDS.

Ok, Ill put some water out now and see what its like in the morning, that'll be about 10 hours.
Just looked at some info from Thames Water "All the supplies in our region are considered to be hard."
And a lot of other scary stuff about what they actually test for in our water
Cheers again
Jon

 

[Bloo]

Interesting......I took my readings this morning (water sitting for 9 hours) and the are as follows :

pH - 7.4
kH - 9
gH - 15

This is the lowest my readings have ever been ! Over the past number of months, I've had readings as high as :

pH - 8.4
kH - 12
gH - 20

I'll keep a better eye on these in future.

Didn't have time to take my tank readings this morning, but I'll do that tonight and amend post with tank readings
(For my own interest and record more than anyone elses !)

Edi: oops - meant to amend previous post - not add new one.

 

[JDS]

Hi,
Ive just tested my tap water thats been left to stand for about 22 hours now and there's still not much difference ...

pH ~ 7.0 or 7.1
kh ~ 13 or 14 deg
gh ~ 19 deg

Still giving me between 30 - 40 ppm CO2

I'm wondering if the test kit is faulty.
The batch number includes 0302 on the end of it, possibly indicating march 2002 (??)
Others that i have, have, for example, 0705 in the same place - July 2005 (??)
If I'm guessing right here, that would be a testkit over 3 1/2 yrs old ... and I would imagine they must have some sort of shelf life?

Anyway, my 1 platy fry is still alive Edit: my 1 fry is now 2 platy fry
I've replaced the CO2 generator with a new batch, to try and keep it constant and avoid any major swings.

Any suggestions / advice, gratefully received, as always,
Jon

 

[JDS]

The GH and KH kits expire in 3 years so your kit is expired. The lot number 0302 is March 2002 so the kit expired early this year.

If you have any other questions or wish to discuss this further, please email back or give us a call at 1-800-847-0659.

To receive email notification about our new product releases, hot fishkeeping tips and our latest reference center updates, please click here <http/www.aquariumpharm.com/nlsignup.html>

Best Regards,
Nathan Fekula
Technical Service and Research
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mars Fishcare Group

Think this might explain my problem
Now ... over to aquatics-online

Jon

 

[JDS]

Aquatics-online were pretty good with replacing my test kit ...

Monday - posted faulty kit back to them
Tuesday - received and replied to emails regarding options for replacement
Wednesday - received new Hagen / Nutrafin KH/GH test kit

So, this evening i've retested my tank water again
kh ~ 11 1/2 degrees (or ~200ppm) - (20 drops)
gh ~ 16 degrees (or ~280ppm) - (14 drops)
(Any Hagen / Nutrafin test users confirm/correct these calcs?)

I reckon this is still high, so ...
I still have the water that I'd left out in a jug to stand (quite a few days ago now!!)
And this tests virtually the same as the tank water...

I think i will have to try this new kit again tomorrow, to make sure i'm doing it right.
Then check these batch numbers with the manufacturer.

Cheers
Jon

PS My 2 platy fry are still alive

 

[Disco]

Your GH/KH tests sound about right for Oxford but your pH is well out its more likly to be 8-8.2. Liquid/tablet pH test kits are terrible for this. I suggest you get a digital pH meter or ask your lfs to test your water with theres. Your home made CO2 unit sounds interesting I picked up a Hagen one from my lfs for £19.99 and its great. It is very important to maximize the bubbles contact time with the water to allow the CO2 to diffuse into the water my hagen one has a special bit of kit to help with this. Also consider using R.O. water to help soften your water. My lfs has some nice planted tanks set up and the staff are always worth questioning as to how the set them up.

 

[JDS]

Your GH/KH tests sound about right for Oxford but your pH is well out its more likly to be 8-8.2. Liquid/tablet pH test kits are terrible for this. I suggest you get a digital pH meter or ask your lfs to test your water with theres. Your home made CO2 unit sounds interesting I picked up a Hagen one from my lfs for £19.99 and its great. It is very important to maximize the bubbles contact time with the water to allow the CO2 to diffuse into the water my hagen one has a special bit of kit to help with this. Also consider using R.O. water to help soften your water. My lfs has some nice planted tanks set up and the staff are always worth questioning as to how the set them up.

Thanks for the post...
Ive just rechecked the tank water pH with my API test kit (checked the lot no. 0805 ) and it's 7.0 - 7.2.
I think I'll definately have to take some to the shop for testing and chat to the staff about it.

I've seen some hagen CO2 units, and they have a "ladder" for allowing the co2 bubbles to be absorbed in to the water, which seems like a good idea ... mine is dispersed by the internal filter which works quite well, I think, although i'm still strugglin to come up with an accurate figure for how much co2 is dissolved in there

 

[JDS]

To conclude this thread ...

I went to a lfs and had them test my tank water ... the results were exactly the same as mine i.e. high gh and kh and also slightly alkaline (7.4).

Therefore, I have decided to stop CO2 injection completely and resort to fertiliser tabs to the roots of the plants.

Many thanks for all advice given in the thread .

Jon