new RO unit and KH

[donkey]

Hi all
i have just got a RO unit and i now have my first batch of water .anyway i did some test on the water and i found that my KH is 0 . so what im asking is this . is it ok to use the water with a 0 KH or do i need to lift the KH before i put it in my tank .if i do need to lift it what should i be looking to raise it to and what should i use to raise it

Thanks for any help i may get

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...the kH you are referring to is that of the RO water? If this is what you mean, the reason the kH is 0 is because the unit removed nearly all minerals from the water and made the kH 0. That is the function of the RO. What kind of tank are you using this for...SW or FW? Assuming that you got it for SW? SH

 

[donkey]

Hi there . its for a discus tank

 

[freddyk]

Donkey, you can't use straight RO water because all of the healthy minerals and elements have been filtered out. It's important to add these nutrients back into the water via additives, readily available at the LFS. These will, in turn, bring the KH back up a bit.

 

[donkey]

Hi thanks for the help so far . i have put some ELECTRO RIGHT in to the RO water put the KH is still 0 . i think at this rate i would need to add the whole bottle to get the KH up and at £10 a shoot its not cheap

 

[sinistral]

My disclaimer is that I do not have experience with RO units, Electro Right or discus keeping, but from my research the most likely reason why your KH is not rising with Electro Right is that KH is a measurement of bicarbonate and carbonate ions (and some other buffers), and Electro Right contains many things, but not the buffers that are measured with KH, AFAIK.

Perhaps somebody with a greater knowledge of water chemistry can come along and correct me, but since CO2 will diffuse back into water under atmospheric pressure, and is in a natural equilibrium with carbonate and bicarbonate, the KH should rise accordingly over time.

In thinking about this again, I am surprised that the KH would remain at 0. Are you sure you weren't referring to GH initially and KH upon second measurement?

You might wish to visit this website and do a search for KH and GH for more information.

 

[donkey]

Hi. i just tested my tap water and my KH is only 3 coming out the tap . i have been told that it would be ok to add some bi carb . but will this lift the PH as well . as this is a discus tank i dont want the PH to high

 

[steelhealr]

Sinistral is right....kH is the level of carbonate hardness or buffering capacity of your water. I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve, but, it doesn't make sense to me to filter your water to remove everything...then start adding things back in with chemical products. What is your goal with your water here? Posting that might help everyone to help you. A kH of your tap water of 3 is low buffering capacity but not too bad. Why not get some help as posting this thread with a discus header? SH