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A little help: Switched to DI Water and KH goes up?

746 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  dr3167 
#1 ·
Been searching through this and other forums for some help, but I can't seem to find anyone else experiencing my issue.

Setup:

Aquarium -- Ada Mini M
Filter -- Eheim 2213
C02 -- Inline reactor paintball setup set to just under a bubble per second, 1/2 before lights on and off
Light -- Borrowed Finnex 24/7 +, set to off at 22:00 on at 06:00
Substrate -- Aqua Soil New Amazonia Normal Type
Dosing -- Thrive+ 1/4 pump 3 times per week
Water Change -- Normally 20% per week, recently switched to DI water which I'll go into later
Stock -- 2 Dragon's Head Guppies and 100+ nuisance snails
Time Running -- 1 year

I previously had a larger 29 gallon bowfront that formed a crack and leaked awhile back. This tank had a thriving CRS and cherry shrimp population when I was forced to tear it down. I used my house water and did weekly 30% water changes with no other fin-nicking. I never checked the water parameters in this tank, I was able to grow plants and shrimp without much effort.

After a long hiatus I purchased this Ada tank for my son and myself in order to house some shrimps. I cycled the tank for a few months, attempting an Iwagami scape that never took off, then switched to a planted scape that I was familiar with. After about six months I decided it was time to add some shrimp and assassin snails. I had never heard of drip acclimation, but instead would float the bag and slowly add spoonfuls of water over a period of an hour. I dumped the ghost shrimps and assassin snails in after the hour. The snails lasted a few months and procreated before all dying out. The shrimp died in 24 hours.

I started researching as it became apparent that these small tanks are not as easy to run as my previous bowfront. I bypassed my potassium water softener and used my house water...I mean why not? I was so successful last time I used it. Ran this way again for a few months, then added some assassin snails as the pond variety had come blazing back. These assassin snails died within a few days. At this point I'm starting to get annoyed. I began to rigorously test the water. Copper, N02, N03, PH, KH, GH, TDS. My wife is getting concerned. She hates the spreadsheets, thinks I'm obsessive.

The tests show the following:

28-Feb-2017 (first test after bypassing water softener)
N03 -- 5
N02 -- 0
Copper -- 0
ph -- 7
KH -- 13 (WTF)
GH -- 9
TDS -- 478 (WTF)

I needed to get control of the KH and GH. So I decided to switch to straight DI water and re-add as needed. I began to do 40 % water changes weekly (now have done 3) and only add DI water. I also only use DI water for top ups.

27-Mar-2017 (newest test)
N03 -- 5ish
N02 -- 0
Copper -- 0
ph -- 7
KH -- 9 (why?)
GH -- 8
TDS -- 298 (better)

So finally we get to my question: Why when using DI water for all water additions/changes does my KH still climb? I'm not adding anything to change GH or KH at the moment, I'm waiting for the levels to drop before adding anything. I've added my graph.

Hopefully someone else has experienced this. I'm guessing I just need to keep up the DI water changes and after time (more than a month) this will equalize. I'm just concerned seeing KH rise since the last water change.

Also, here's My Ada Mini M
 

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#5 ·
Thanks for the ideas guys.

To answer some questions:

I'm not using any house water for changes or top ups anymore, only DI water exclusively. I have tested the DI water -- KH (1 drop), GH (1 drop) and TDS (001).

I have a single branch of wood that I purchased at Big Als, not quite sure of the type. I have had dragon stone in the tank last year, but I switched it out for the branch a few months ago.

I was wondering if the substrate would have an effect on the KH value as it's pretty deep (3 inches) on the sloped side. At this point I will continue water changes only adding DI water and see if the HG and KH values start dropping. The TDS value has been dropping since the switch to DI 3 weeks ago.

Thanks again.
 
#8 ·
Just to close up this thread with a resolution. I've done a few water changes since last I posted and I have finally seen KH (GH and TDS too) dropping. I guess it took awhile for the water changes to have an effect. Was weird to see KH rise after switching to DI water, but now things are looking normal-ish.

KH -- 4
GH -- 6 (Seachem Equilibirium)
TDS -- 196
 

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