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Hey everyone. I have been using this site as a valuable source of information while just getting into this hobby. Great stuff on here. I just moved back from school and I took the opportunity to change the substrate in my 10 and 20H tanks to flurorite. I put the fluorite in, filled the tanks, and added the plants that I still had from before the move on 5/7. I added the fish back in today (5/9). The plants took a little beating in the move, so they aren't in the best shape right now. Plus, the water here is very hard (gH around 25, kH around 23), so I am trying to mix R/O water with the tap water to soften it up to a reasonable level. Currently, the parameters in both tanks are:
Amm-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate dosed to 10ppm using KNO3, Phosphate dosed to 1-2 ppm using KH2PO4, kH-7
In the 10 gallon, the gH is still over 20, while the gH in the 20 is 18. Any ideas why the gH wasn't lowered more using half and half R/O and tap water? The kH came down nicely, but the gH is stubborn. None of the stone in my tanks reacted to an acid test, so I am curious why the gH would still be so high. Also, do you think this is enough of a plant load to cycle the tank, or should I add more? Any ideas about the tank would be appreciated. Here's a picture of the 20 gallon
And one of the 10 gallon
Amm-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate dosed to 10ppm using KNO3, Phosphate dosed to 1-2 ppm using KH2PO4, kH-7
In the 10 gallon, the gH is still over 20, while the gH in the 20 is 18. Any ideas why the gH wasn't lowered more using half and half R/O and tap water? The kH came down nicely, but the gH is stubborn. None of the stone in my tanks reacted to an acid test, so I am curious why the gH would still be so high. Also, do you think this is enough of a plant load to cycle the tank, or should I add more? Any ideas about the tank would be appreciated. Here's a picture of the 20 gallon

And one of the 10 gallon
