Which is important for soft/hardwater plants? GH OR KH??

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Originally Posted by hubbahubbahehe

Heya Sam,

I know this is off topic but your wife is HOT. Way to go, man. I could use some advice with women, lol.

Thanks man, but I assure you I did nothing to deserve hooking up with a babe like that so I couldn't possibly dish out any sort of advice.

As for water hardness, I've got some experience that might help. My tap water has a ph in the high 7.8-7.9 range, very similar to yours. I used to try adding all sorts of chemicals to drop the pH, and I only created unstable conditions for my fish. I tried using peat and softeners and they really didn't improve plant growth.
What youv'e heard is right - just stick with your tap water conditions and let the plants and fish adapt to THEM rather than try to adapt the water conditions to what you think your fish and plants need.
DLeDeaux is also right - CO2 will drop your pH. Mine comes down from 7.8 to 7.0 with 1 bubble per second of CO2.

[m.lemay]

Originally Posted by aquaverde

Marcel- how do you determine TDS?

James

With a TDS meter.

Now just let me say this. Everybodys advice about not messing with your tap water chemistry is absolutely correct.
If I had to use RO water to grow plants I don't think I'd be in this hobby for very long.

I'm also not advising people to go out and get thier water parameters perfect because theres no such thing. Different plants like different parameters but most will grow in almost anything. Some will just grow better if provided optimum conditions for that species.

I'm doing some experiments with TDS, and other things, of my own because I've been having some problems with a couple of plants that are categorized as difficult. Should you do the same thing? Probably not. This is for knowledge for my own sake and to help others who might be having problems with certain plants.

On the whole, you can have a lot of fun in this hobby without having to worry about KH/GH. You'll have your hands full just trying to keep macros/micros, lighting , and co2 at the right levels.


Marcel

[aquaverde]

I can dig that. I went so far as to get a handheld pH meter, but have no more in the aquarium budget for another meter that I have no clue how to interpret.

OTOH, I'll be reading and considering whatever you post on the topic.

James

[hubbahubbahehe]

marc and sam,

i appreciate your advice about not messing with the tap water. I'm no longer going to worry about it,

i got lighting and DIY co2 taken care of, but the ferts are still a challenge for me, my plants show signs of nutrient deficiency yet when i dose, i end up with an algae bloom and the plants look a lil better, but then the algae takes over and gets in the way of their photosynthesis.... sigh

[DLeDeaux]

What are you dosing with, how much are you dosing, and how often?

[hubbahubbahehe]

Hi I was dosing with Seachem's line of products. 1 ml every other day . maybe that's too much? actually, that prolly is too much, which is why i get the algae bloom.

i have two tanks right next to each other. one has GW, the other one doesn't. one thing I learned from this is.....PLANT DENSELY!