KH and GH

[2ToesTony]

Hi there, I bought a used 50 gallon tank, and the previous owner told me I need to use Aqua Vitro GH Mineralize and KH Carbonate.
He was running a DIY CO2 setup. Is it necessary to add these to your water every time you do a water change. I have not found anything on the net regarding adding these to a tank. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Sajacobs]

You will need to buy KH/GH tester kit to see if your water needs to be buffered. You might find that's not necessary.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi 2ToesTony,

Welcome to TPT!

The reason you don't find much on the net regarding those two products is they are very, very new. Seachem introduced them as part of their 'high end' planted aquarium products line last spring so there is not much experience with them.

If your water in Vancouver is similar to ours here in Seattle then it is very soft. Here in Seattle my water is <1.0 dKH and about 3.0 dGH. It is great water for breeding soft water fish but in my planted tanks I would have issues with calcium and/or magnesium deficiencies.

To resolve the issues I use a similar Seachem product, Equilibrium, and adjust my dGH to 5.0. I also try to keep my dKH above 2.0.

Hope this helps!

[2ToesTony]

I am heading out this morning to pick up a test kit. Hopefully all will be ok.

Thanks for the welcome. Regards to adding the Equilibrium I have done that already. That was also on his list of things to add, along with Flourish Comp., Trace and Iron. The later 3 I haven't added yet.

The tank is full of mollies and I mean full. They breed like, well I would say rabbits, but I am now changing that to breed like mollies. I am trying to give some of them away, but no real takers. I am heading to the pet shop this morning and I'll see if they will take them.

[2ToesTony]

latter 3

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi 2ToesTony,


BTW, you have a great aquarium club that meets in North Vancouver:

Vancouver Area Hobbyist Society

[2ToesTony]

Thanks,

I'll be sure to check it out

[@marko@]

those are boosters for your kh and your gh.
you MAY need to add them, if your kh and gh are too low without them. if you do need to add them, it would be cheaper to use a dry gh booster (ive had one jar of seachem equilibrium for years), and use baking soda for kh boosting (carbonates are carbonates, go for the cheap package).

[2ToesTony]

At what ratio would one add baking soda?

[wkndracer]

Leveled spoons
To increase KH
1/8 TSP : 6.4 gallons = 1dKH
1/4 TSP : 13 gallons = 1dKH
1/2 TSP : 26 gallons = 1dKH

[driftwoodhunter]

wknracer, that's very, very helpful for those of us that are math challenged!

[2ToesTony]

Awesome, that's great. Thanks so much for the info

[2ToesTony]

My KH was pretty low. It was sitting at 1.68. I will need to raise that.
My GH was at 7.84, which I think is fine.