German degrees of hardness question??

cvarcher · 12-03-2002, 11:44 PM

Well at my lab I tested the Tetra test kit for GH which is General hardness .I took a standard solution which contains 1 mg. of CaCo3/ml and using the test kit gave (14drops)14degrees of GH for 1 mg.CaCo3.That would put 1 degree hardness=.07mg CaCO3 .IS this correct?Anyone else know the equivalence of degrees vrsus ppm or concentration of CACO3? My tap water at home came out to 3 degrees GH and practically zero degrees for KH (carbonate hardness).I think this means my tap water is very soft.

bwiser · 12-04-2002, 08:50 AM

its 4:30 am and i'm on my second cup of coffee

is my brain not working or are you testing a solution of CaCo3 with a GH test kit, when it should be a KH test kit?

As for your tap water (at home), yes, its very soft (GH) and the extremly low KH will not hold a stable pH, you'll want at least a 3 on the KH. But 5 KH would be nice. Baking soda works good for that, it is potent stuff so be careful.
david

cvarcher · 12-04-2002, 10:46 PM

Reason I got side tracked is that Standard Methods test for Total hardness is expressed as mg/lit of CaCo3.Thats titrating with EDTA .So I would like to equate this titration to degrees so I can use the Edta instead of a cheap Tetra test kit.

m.lemay · 12-05-2002, 09:49 PM

The correct conversion from ppm to degrees of hardness: 17.9 ppm= 1 degree hardness. Its the same for GH or KH.

cvarcher · 12-05-2002, 10:37 PM

OK ,Total hardness includes both the carbonates of Ca and Mg(carbonate hardness),and the Sulphates of of the other salts(noncarbonates).The Carbonates can be boiled right out. Now today I made up a 10mg std of CaCO3 and with the Kh test kit it called for 7 drops or degrees .Therefore each degree of kH is equal to 1.4ppm CaCO3.

SNPiccolo5 · 12-06-2002, 09:20 PM

Unless you have a specific reason to know the CaCO3, it is not too important with plants. If your test kits give you a reading that is safe (and they aren't old) then you should be fine.

-Tim

m.lemay · 12-07-2002, 01:48 AM

O.K., forget about total hardness. Its really useless to a planted tank. dGh is somewhat relevant, since most plants don't like very hard water. dKh is very relevant since you will be using this measurement to determine co2 levels and it also affects the ph of your water.

12-06-2002, 09:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
SNPiccolo5 Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 859	Unless you have a specific reason to know the CaCO3, it is not too important with plants. If your test kits give you a reading that is safe (and they aren't old) then you should be fine. -Tim __________________ Tank in transition! 55 gallons, hard water.

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12-03-2002, 11:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
cvarcher Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Old Bethpage ,L.I.New York Posts: 145	Well at my lab I tested the Tetra test kit for GH which is General hardness .I took a standard solution which contains 1 mg. of CaCo3/ml and using the test kit gave (14drops)14degrees of GH for 1 mg.CaCo3.That would put 1 degree hardness=.07mg CaCO3 .IS this correct?Anyone else know the equivalence of degrees vrsus ppm or concentration of CACO3? My tap water at home came out to 3 degrees GH and practically zero degrees for KH (carbonate hardness).I think this means my tap water is very soft.

12-04-2002, 08:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
bwiser Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: NC Posts: 41	its 4:30 am and i'm on my second cup of coffee is my brain not working or are you testing a solution of CaCo3 with a GH test kit, when it should be a KH test kit? As for your tap water (at home), yes, its very soft (GH) and the extremly low KH will not hold a stable pH, you'll want at least a 3 on the KH. But 5 KH would be nice. Baking soda works good for that, it is potent stuff so be careful. david

12-04-2002, 10:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
cvarcher Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Old Bethpage ,L.I.New York Posts: 145	Reason I got side tracked is that Standard Methods test for Total hardness is expressed as mg/lit of CaCo3.Thats titrating with EDTA .So I would like to equate this titration to degrees so I can use the Edta instead of a cheap Tetra test kit.

12-05-2002, 09:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
m.lemay Moderator (View User Tanks) PTrader: (9) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Naugatuck, CT. Posts: 2,646	The correct conversion from ppm to degrees of hardness: 17.9 ppm= 1 degree hardness. Its the same for GH or KH.

12-05-2002, 10:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
cvarcher Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Old Bethpage ,L.I.New York Posts: 145	OK ,Total hardness includes both the carbonates of Ca and Mg(carbonate hardness),and the Sulphates of of the other salts(noncarbonates).The Carbonates can be boiled right out. Now today I made up a 10mg std of CaCO3 and with the Kh test kit it called for 7 drops or degrees .Therefore each degree of kH is equal to 1.4ppm CaCO3.

12-07-2002, 01:48 AM	#7 (permalink)
m.lemay Moderator (View User Tanks) PTrader: (9) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Naugatuck, CT. Posts: 2,646	O.K., forget about total hardness. Its really useless to a planted tank. dGh is somewhat relevant, since most plants don't like very hard water. dKh is very relevant since you will be using this measurement to determine co2 levels and it also affects the ph of your water.

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