Safely Raising KH

[darrylzuk]

My apologies if this is posted in the wrong thread... I have extremely low Carbonate Hardness in my tap water. I want to add some cherry shrimp to my community tank, but as it stands my water is far too soft. Here are the parameters I measured this weekend:

Temp: 76.1 deg F
pH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Alkalinity: 0 dKH (dropped from 2 dKH a week prior)
Hardness: 4 dGH

I purchased some of SL Aqua's KH builder, which is supposed to raise the KH without affecting the pH. I read an understand the directions for dosing, however, what I can't find published anywhere is a safe rate at which to raise the KH. I know it should be gradual so that I don't stress the fish, but I can't find any guidance as to how gradual. The bottle states "2mL in 10 Liters of water will raise 2°dH". Doing a little math, that means 20ml in ~26.4 gal (my tank is a 29 gal, and I'm assuming plants, substrate, driftwood, etc. conservatively add up to 3 gal) would provide the same increase in KH. I imagine that's too drastic of a change in one go, so does anyone have a good rule of thumb? I also have Salty Shrimp Shrimp Mineral GH/KH+ if raising both GH/KH would be a better move.

Thanks in advance!

 

[seangee]

My apologies if this is posted in the wrong thread... I have extremely low Carbonate Hardness in my tap water. I want to add some cherry shrimp to my community tank, but as it stands my water is far too soft. Here are the parameters I measured this weekend:

Temp: 76.1 deg F
pH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Alkalinity: 0 dKH (dropped from 2 dKH a week prior)
Hardness: 4 dGH

I purchased some of SL Aqua's KH builder, which is supposed to raise the KH without affecting the pH. I read an understand the directions for dosing, however, what I can't find published anywhere is a safe rate at which to raise the KH. I know it should be gradual so that I don't stress the fish, but I can't find any guidance as to how gradual. The bottle states "2mL in 10 Liters of water will raise 2°dH". Doing a little math, that means 20ml in ~26.4 gal (my tank is a 29 gal, and I'm assuming plants, substrate, driftwood, etc. conservatively add up to 3 gal) would provide the same increase in KH. I imagine that's too drastic of a change in one go, so does anyone have a good rule of thumb? I also have Salty Shrimp Shrimp Mineral GH/KH+ if raising both GH/KH would be a better move.

Thanks in advance!

I use the Salty Shrimp for my shrimp tank at the recommended dosage (1 scoop per 10 litres). But my KH and GH are both 0 to start with.
I am not familiar with the other product. How much water are you changing per week? Usually a drop in KH suggests your water changes are insufficient. I change 75% per week and my water stays constant at 3dKH from one change to the next.

If you do make adjustments only adjust the new water you are adding when you do a water change, and don't try to compensate for what is already in the tank. That way you will gradually raise the mineral content in the tank and avoid shocking the fish. FWIW the "ideal" parameters for cherry shrimp are 6dGH and 3dKH. So if you added Salty shrimp at half the recommended dosage your new water would be 7dGH and 3.5dKH which is very nearly ideal.

 

[darrylzuk]

I use the Salty Shrimp for my shrimp tank at the recommended dosage (1 scoop per 10 litres). But my KH and GH are both 0 to start with.
I am not familiar with the other product. How much water are you changing per week? Usually a drop in KH suggests your water changes are insufficient. I change 75% per week and my water stays constant at 3dKH from one change to the next.

If you do make adjustments only adjust the new water you are adding when you do a water change, and don't try to compensate for what is already in the tank. That way you will gradually raise the mineral content in the tank and avoid shocking the fish. FWIW the "ideal" parameters for cherry shrimp are 6dGH and 3dKH. So if you added Salty shrimp at half the recommended dosage your new water would be 7dGH and 3.5dKH which is very nearly ideal.

I've been doing weekly 20% changes. All of my other parameters have been vey stable with that regimen of water changes, pretty much the only thing that fluctuates from the parameters I posted are the GH and KH, but the new water also starts out very low for those two, so I've never been able to build it up. I will do a water change today after work and try the Salty Shrimp.

 

[Essjay]

GH is more important than KH. GH is calcium and magnesium, and shrimps need calcium to build their exoskeleton. The Salty Shrimp that seangee mentioned raises both GH and KH.

 

[darrylzuk]

GH is more important than KH. GH is calcium and magnesium, and shrimps need calcium to build their exoskeleton. The Salty Shrimp that seangee mentioned raises both GH and KH.

Alright, I will use the Salty Shrimp product and do water changes over the course of the week to build it up to the ideal levels.

 

[StevenF]

i have blue dream shrimp in my tankwith0KH water. Yes GH is more important than KH. Since your water is already at 4 I would only raise the GH by one degree which should be sufficient. I also add one decorative snail shell in my aquarium. The snail shell is mostly made of carbonates but has no significant effect on PHor KH as long as the PH is 7 or higher. However if the PH does drop below 7 the shell will start to dissolve and release its carbonate. As it does it will neutralize the PH and push it back to 7. A single snail shell will last a year which makes it a good safe economical addition to the tank.