Increasing Gh Kh In Ro Water

I have RO water in my tank and use equilibrium and alkaline buffer to increase the GH KH.
Now they are at 3 degrees GH and 2 degree KH, however the ph jumped from 6.8 to 7.6 which is not my liking.

Should I get acid buffer to lower the ph? but that would decrease the KH as well? Sounds like keep chasing its own tail.

So, before I get the acid buffer, would it be easier to just use crushed coral?

Please help. Thanks

 

I have RO water in my tank and use equilibrium and alkaline buffer to increase the GH KH.
Now they are at 3 degrees GH and 2 degree KH, however the ph jumped from 6.8 to 7.6 which is not my liking.

Should I get acid buffer to lower the ph? but that would decrease the KH as well? Sounds like keep chasing its own tail.

So, before I get the acid buffer, would it be easier to just use crushed coral?

Please help. Thanks

LOL! Mate, i've been exactly where you are! our rainwater is 0kH/0gH so it's basically RO water naturally from our tap. we learned this stuff the hard way.

the first thing I will say is that your pH is fine unless you're wanting to add something like certain species of rams who thrive in lower pH. even discus are fine in pH of your levels. so you might not want to mess with it.

our pH is pretty stable now between 7.2 and 7.5 and here's what we use:

1-2 small mesh fishsafe filter bags directly in our filter filled with oyster grit (aragonite)
1 - 1.5 whole cuttlefish bones directly in our tank

I hear that crushed coral as either a substrate (depends on your planned stocking given it can be sharp and not ideal for fish like kuhlI loaches etc) or in a mesh bag in your filter like the oyster grit lasts longer than oyster grit.

we also dose with equilibrium and both seachem acid buffer and alkaline buffer.

it's totally true that acid buffer removes the kH you get from alkaline buffer.

we use a ratio of 2.3 parts alkaline buffer to 1 part acid buffer (it's all on the bottle). our kH has stabilised between 2.8-4 drops. which is perfect for us.

the cuttlefish bone will increase gH as well... we found that ours went up when we added fine silica sand from a gH of between 5-7 to 15! we took out the cuttlebone and it's gradually dropped with every 15% water change. it's at 11 now. we are aiming for steady at 5-10 drops.

I hope this helps?

I got my information directly from the seachem forums and from emailing them, btw

 

Your PH is going to move along with your GH and KH, they are all intertwined. I'd suggest reading this. Important - Understanding pH, KH, GH in Home Aqauriums

 

Thanks for all your input guys.

Aquatic J, I have read that article before and just read it again since you posted it. I think I kinda learn something again.

Jenoli, I think I will take your advice and add Oysters grit and cuttlefish bone slowly.
Also, adjusting other factors like co2 dosing.... one factor is affecting the others.

Adding or adjusting one component at a time and keep monitoring the changes in ph KH GH to find the “balance”.

Starting to feel like playing a master mind game, shoot my best guess and check for hints from the test kits.

 

Thanks for all your input guys.

Aquatic J, I have read that article before and just read it again since you posted it. I think I kinda learn something again.

Jenoli, I think I will take your advice and add Oysters grit and cuttlefish bone slowly.
Also, adjusting other factors like co2 dosing.... one factor is affecting the others.

Adding or adjusting one component at a time and keep monitoring the changes in ph KH GH to find the “balance”.

Starting to feel like playing a master mind game, shoot my best guess and check for hints from the test kits.

I started asking where my honorary chemistry degree was