Graeme Jackson Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Hi All, My name is Graeme, I'm in Wanganui. First up, Thanks for this great site, we have very little club activity here and although we do have a dedicated LFS some problems need expert input. I've kept fish for over 30 years and have had everything from cold water to tropical marine. I'm now back to one tank 300L of tropical comunity type fish. We are on rain water here so its pretty soft, but I have just DIY'd a pressured CO2 system and I'm a bit concerned about pH. My tank has always been quite acidic, I blamed a combination of undergravel filters and a large piece of driftwood for this, but the fish seemed happy. I have now disconected the UG filters and gone to a cannister filter. The pH reads around 5.5. I'm not a fan of chemicals or additives but would prefer a pH closer to 6.5. Long winded enough for the first post, your help would be gratefully received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Bird grit in a stocking in the external filter, Just start with a handful and turn the filter back on and the water will slowly go up, after a couple hours pH test the tank and if its too high or too low then adjust the amount until it is right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 HI Graeme Test your water before putting it in the tank, then you know if you have a problem at source or if its a problem with your set up. As you are running CO2 - evn DIY - I assume you are growing plants? Plants actually "use" hardness in the water so you need regular water changes to keep hardness up as well, not just to take out nitr*tes. I find that if my water change is a couple of days overdue the plants stop giving off O2, but start again as soon as i do a water change. If the softness is low then you have very little capacity to buffer so you could just try adding a bit of Baking soda to increase the hardness, and see how that goes to start with. Once you can see the effect on pH, KH & GH, using a more measured approach ( teaspoon of Baking Soda @ a time) Bird grit may be a long term solution. Or you may just need to bump up the hardness when you do a water change by adding a teaspoon of Baking Soda to the fresh water. HTH John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludakris Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 yay someone else from wangas :bounce: about time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Jackson Posted September 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Thanks for your help team, can someone explain, in simple terms please, what kH and gH are? I know they're a measurement of hardness but we use to talk about dH I think. Is there a reasonable price test kit for measureing these and what value is acceptable? :-? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 kh is carbonate hardness and is basically the measure of the buffers in your water. this is what keeps your ph from swinging or crashing. if your kh is too low and you are using co2 it can cause your ph to crash and swing rapidly as c02 causes both to drop, if its not high enough to drop a little safely then you could end up with some problems. a kh above 5? degrees is considered a good level to safe guard you against the above. i know of people using co2 in water with 0dkh but i would consider that highly risky. gh is general hardness, which is also what people talk about when they say dH i think? i am unsure of its role in ph and co2 usage. i have the aquarium pharm test kit. it has the gh and kh in the kit and cost me 21 something which is quite reasonable. welcome aboard and i hope you have fun here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Welcome along! I hope you are able to get your chemistry sorted. MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Baking soda will not affect your Gh. only your Kh and ph. Rocksalt and Epsom salts will effect your Gh but not the Kh nor the ph. Kh is about alkalinity and as sharn says is a good indicator of the stability of your water. I would say a kh of 4 - 6 dh is what you would be trying for. I don't know alot more than that. You can look those terms up on http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/man ... ater1.html or http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html Using shells or coral rubble in the canister is a good way to raise your ph quickly but less dramatically than baking soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Hello and welcome Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Welcome to the fishroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 Hi & welcome :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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