[joekidwell]

Im sorta confused here and don't know how to fix this. I have always had soft water with a kh of 120 ppm now its sayin my water is very hard and the kh is 300+

 

[binders]

Test could be wrong, or do you have something in the tank that is raising the kh? what types of rock or substrate are you using?

 

[150EH]

I'd say the same thing!

 

[ray-the-pilot]

Im sorta confused here and don't know how to fix this. I have always had soft water with a kh of 120 ppm now its sayin my water is very hard and the kh is 300+

kH has nothing to do with the hardness of your water. It is related to the total alkalinity. Things that add alkalinity like PO4-3, HCO3-, CO3-2,or OH- will increase kH.

 

[joekidwell]

Im using caribbean sea flora max and the rock is the same stuff they make driveways out of just 40 and 10 lb sizes like in my signature

 

[Hoppy]

Those could be limestone rocks. If so, they will increase both the KH and the GH as they very slowly dissolve in the water. They are probably a mix of calcium carbonate (limestone) with some magnesium carbonate mixed in.

 

[ray-the-pilot]

+1

Those could be limestone rocks. If so, they will increase both the KH and the GH as they very slowly dissolve in the water. They are probably a mix of calcium carbonate (limestone) with some magnesium carbonate mixed in.

The white streaks in the rocks look like marble which is CaCO3. This will increase both GH and kH.
I've also had problems with Carib Sea products. I use Eco Complete and it was contaminated with CaCO3.
If you read the description it says something like "will not continuously change the KH." Meaning that after a while, all the CaCO3 dissolves and it is then inert.
The people at Carib Sea were nice and said they would replace the Eco Compete free of charge. Since my take was already up and running, I wasn't going to do that.
If you have a CO2 controller, just set it to a pH to about 6.5 - 6.8. and do weekly water changes. Over time the CaCO3 will dissolve and the kH will stabilize. You can also just do weekly water changes but this will take longer.

 

[joekidwell]

Well I took the rocks out with 5 gallons of water, its been three hours and have noticed a decrease in the numbers. I will wait a couple of days and test again.

 

[Rainer]

Put some white vinegar on the rocks once they've dried off. If you see bubbling, they're the type to increase your GH/KH.