TropicALI
Member
Ok so I had a fish die a couple of days after buying it, I rang my LFS to see if they could replace it and their policy is to test my tank water before they can replace. They tested it and the ph 7.1, nitrates around 10 and the GH was low. She didn’t give me the exact amount but said it was very low which is why my fish died. I have guppies, swordtails, mollies and neon tetras. I’m sure my tetras were happy with the water being soft but the rest of my fish not so much. She also told me that’s why I’ve seen my fish having a skitz rolling and flipping about the gravel every now and then. So I brought some Aqua One tropical conditioning salts and an API GH & KH test kit. Done a little research on what the GH and KH mean and I understand the basics of it.
The salts say to add one scoop (which equals 2 grams) for every 10 litres. My tank is 130 litres, so I’d have to add 13 scoops but was told not to do it all at once because it will shock my fish. She said to add 6 scoops when I got home which I did, and then add the other seven scoops in two or three days.
I put my test kit to use and tested my tap water. The KH was 35.8 ppm and GH 53.7 ppm. Then thought I’d test my tank water (which was about 5 hours after I added the salts) to see how much the level had changed but I still got the same results as the tap water, even after having added 6 scoops of the salts. My first thought was maybe the instructions of 1 scoop per 10 litres was for a safe and gradual climb of GH, and my second thought was maybe they’re not very good salts..
So I added 1 scoop into one litre and tested that. The results I got for GH was 179 ppm (much better) but the KH was still the same as the tap water being 35.8. I thought adding the salts would increase the KH as well as the GH? I have read that having a low KH can also cause fluctuations to the PH but I’ve always had a stable PH of around 7 for tap water and tank water so I’m a little confused. Could someone please help explain why my KH hasn’t changed?? And why my PH isn’t affected by a low KH?
I have since mixed up another 14 scoops and added it to the tank. 20 in total. I’ll test the results after posting this and comment them below. I’m hoping it should have increased the levels a bit but not dramatically so as to cause my fish stress.
My last question is about what level of KH and GH I should have. I’ve done a little research and found my KH should be 100-150 and GH for livebearers at about 200 or more. If you agree or disagree with this please let me know as that’s what I’m aiming for, unless told otherwise. Sorry for the long post! Hopefully the more information I can give will help to get the best answers
GH is now 71.6 ppm so has gone up a little bit KH is still 35.8 ppm..
The salts say to add one scoop (which equals 2 grams) for every 10 litres. My tank is 130 litres, so I’d have to add 13 scoops but was told not to do it all at once because it will shock my fish. She said to add 6 scoops when I got home which I did, and then add the other seven scoops in two or three days.
I put my test kit to use and tested my tap water. The KH was 35.8 ppm and GH 53.7 ppm. Then thought I’d test my tank water (which was about 5 hours after I added the salts) to see how much the level had changed but I still got the same results as the tap water, even after having added 6 scoops of the salts. My first thought was maybe the instructions of 1 scoop per 10 litres was for a safe and gradual climb of GH, and my second thought was maybe they’re not very good salts..
So I added 1 scoop into one litre and tested that. The results I got for GH was 179 ppm (much better) but the KH was still the same as the tap water being 35.8. I thought adding the salts would increase the KH as well as the GH? I have read that having a low KH can also cause fluctuations to the PH but I’ve always had a stable PH of around 7 for tap water and tank water so I’m a little confused. Could someone please help explain why my KH hasn’t changed?? And why my PH isn’t affected by a low KH?
I have since mixed up another 14 scoops and added it to the tank. 20 in total. I’ll test the results after posting this and comment them below. I’m hoping it should have increased the levels a bit but not dramatically so as to cause my fish stress.
My last question is about what level of KH and GH I should have. I’ve done a little research and found my KH should be 100-150 and GH for livebearers at about 200 or more. If you agree or disagree with this please let me know as that’s what I’m aiming for, unless told otherwise. Sorry for the long post! Hopefully the more information I can give will help to get the best answers
GH is now 71.6 ppm so has gone up a little bit KH is still 35.8 ppm..