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gH & kH

3K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  Argus 
#1 ·
How often should one check the gH/kH levels in their tank?
 
#2 ·
As often as one wants.

If you check the levels every hour, and they are the same over a 24 hour period, then you can probably start checking every day instead.

If you check the levels every day, and they are the same over a week, then you can probably start checking every week instead.

If you check the levels every week, and they are the same...................

If you make changes to the tank that are likely to adjust GH and KH, then you should probably check the results.
 
#14 ·
Most often, people recommend a minimum of 3-4 for both GH and KH, and are happy with anything above that. The only times there are problems past that is when you start getting really high GH (well past your levels) and certain plant and fish varieties. At moderately high levels (still past your ranges) you'll have a very small number of varieties that may struggle.

You probably won't ever have to worry about either of those again. That's a gross generalization, but you're in a pretty nice mid-range where just about anything can live and grow happily. Unless you decide to start going very exotic, it's not a concern. You might have trouble keeping Lake Tanganyika livestock, for example (too soft). Or really sensitive cardinia shrimp (too hard). There are a number of soft-water plants that *may* struggle with your parameters, but anything that would definitely struggle will probably be rarer and more expensive (if they didn't struggle, they wouldn't be rare or expensive, as your parameters are pretty run-of-the-mill).

Anyway, no reason for concern.
 
#17 ·
You probably won't ever have to worry about either of those again. That's a gross generalization, but you're in a pretty nice mid-range where just about anything can live and grow happily.
When doing water changes it is a good idea to keep GH and KH fairly close to what is in the tank. The larger the volume of the water change the more important this is. You can adjust KH and GH during water changes, but don't make radical changes quickly.
 
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