[AquaAurora]

So my straight from the tap water is about 7.5 pH, and gh 160s... I recently got some very lovely looking rock, unfortunately it raises gh.. so now I can't even tell how high it is. API GH test kit only goes up to 12 drops = __ gh... it took 16 to get the color change from 1 week of soaking in water.

SO are there any adverse effects of having off the charts GH? I don't plant to use this in tanks with (wild caught)fish/plants that needs super low gh.. but does it have any bad effect on more tolerant plants or fish?

 

[Charlest]

That's pretty high how many gallons?

 

[Zapins]

Ammania plants, erios and some rotalas do not do well in very high GH water and will not grow, or not grow normally. Other than that the effects of high GH are difficult to determine.

 

[AquaAurora]

That's pretty high how many gallons?

3 gallon bucket 6 days of soaking

 

[Hoppy]

The rocks are probably carbonate rocks, so your KH is very likely very high also. High KH is more likely to be a problem for fish and plants than high GH is. Maybe you can find some more benign rocks to use?

 

[fablau]

My GH is 13 and I can grow pretty much any plant:

 

[Charlest]

The veins are 2:1 calcium carbonate/ magnesium

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[AquaAurora]

The rocks are probably carbonate rocks, so your KH is very likely very high also. High KH is more likely to be a problem for fish and plants than high GH is. Maybe you can find some more benign rocks to use?

My KH was in the 70s from tap, didn't test it in the rock soaked water yet. I wish i could use these rocks though they look so damn good :c

My GH is 13 and I can grow pretty much any plant:

Rub it in why donchya....

The veins are 2:1 calcium carbonate/ magnesium

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I didn't really think about how it would effect the water before I grabbed them.. not taht my water was very ideal to begin with though.

 

[Charlest]

I got an r/o test going right now. How many gallons were you planning on putting them in? And how much of the 10 pounds I sold you are you going to use. I'm experimenting to find out lbs x gallons to achieve 100 tds in a 40b. But if you want more info were sitting at 180ppm in 5 gallons of r/o after a week. The acid treated is at 20ppm. 5 ppm to start with. Those numbers are not including 20% water change.

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"Tds"

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[The Trigger]

My GH is 17 and I have no problems growing anything in my tank. Only thing that sucks is I want to keep CRS butttttt that's not happening anytime soon lol

 

[AquaAurora]

I got an r/o test going right now. How many gallons were you planning on putting them in? And how much of the 10 pounds I sold you are you going to use. I'm experimenting to find out lbs x gallons to achieve 100 tds in a 40b. But if you want more info were sitting at 180ppm in 5 gallons of r/o after a week. The acid treated is at 20ppm. 5 ppm to start with. Those numbers are not including 20% water change.

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"Tds"

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I don't have exact #s yet to give... was going to use as part of a gift setup for my husband but he's not decided on a gallon/tank size yet. I'd planned to hook his tank up to an ehiem 2211 canister and have the lines split between his tank and my future 7 gallon (our desks are pushed against each-other, canister would be directly under/in between the tanks). Soooo anywhere from 10-19 gallons + however much the canstiser filter holds.. say 3 empty? So 12-22 gallons range maybe? But if the off the charts GH effects plants more adversely than the taps already insane 160s GH I might have to give him his own filter in which case could be 4-17 gallons depending on tank size and filter chosen. As for the amount of rock.. also depends on what size tank is chosen, 3 gallon, 4 gallon, 6 gallon, 12 gallon... so no clue about poundage yet.


On a random note:... am I doing the damn test wrong? I count every drop until it turns green in api test (was 16 drops with the rock soaked water)

My GH is 17 and I have no problems growing anything in my tank. Only thing that sucks is I want to keep CRS butttttt that's not happening anytime soon lol

Too low for shrimp?... wonder if theres a point were its too high for shrimp (gh)

 

[Diana]

There are limits for how much of a particular mineral will dissolve in the water.
Please also test the KH:
tap water:
Rock water:

When you have hard water (high GH) then keep fish that thrive in hard water.
Most live bearers, certain Rainbow Fish and their relatives, Rift Lake Cichlids ...

As already noted above, most aquarium plants will do just fine in hard water.

Yes, you are doing the test right. 1 drop of reagent = 1 German degree of hardness.

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Do not cross connect tanks to one filter. It is very difficult to balance the return and one or the other tank will overflow.

 

[Charlest]

So theoretically if you stuck that ten pounds into ten gallons it's going to raise tds by 36ppm

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[Diana]

Maybe not.
At some point it will reach equilibrium, and the rock will stop dissolving until a water change it done that removes some of the dissolved materials, or the plants and fish remove enough calcium and magnesium from the water.

 

[AquaAurora]

There are limits for how much of a particular mineral will dissolve in the water.
Please also test the KH:
tap water:
Rock water:

When you have hard water (high GH) then keep fish that thrive in hard water.
Most live bearers, certain Rainbow Fish and their relatives, Rift Lake Cichlids ...

As already noted above, most aquarium plants will do just fine in hard water.

Yes, you are doing the test right. 1 drop of reagent = 1 German degree of hardness.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do not cross connect tanks to one filter. It is very difficult to balance the return and one or the other tank will overflow.

The bugger about this is I want to keep the fish that like it soft *sigh* (no wild caught). Will test KH tomorrow (and retest GH) gotta keep it hidden (rock is suppose to be a suppose to be a suprise shhh). Thank you everyone that's responded so far, happy to hear more input/experiences etc ^^

 

[Diana]

If your water is too hard for the fish you want, then
a) Use a blend of RO and tap water that will make the GH, KH, pH and TDS appropriate for the fish you want to keep.
b) do not add the rock that raises the hardness.

Sorry, the rock will not likely work for that sort of tank. Limestone and related rocks dissolve faster in soft, acidic water.

 

[Charlest]

Not to hijack but it's not limestone it's cherty dolomite. Chert with dolomite veins throughout. Hence my reference to acid treated stone and untreated stone. limestone is a dirty word.

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[AquaAurora]

haha dirty word

Ok did more tests today
3 gallon bucket, 10 lb stone (cherty dolomite), 7 days of soaking now
tap: pH 7.5, kh 70s, gh 160s
bucket: pH 7.5 kg 89.5 9(5 drops to turn yellow), gh off charts (16 drops to change color)

So both gh and kh raised from 1 week of soaking, though in application there would be a lot more water than 3 gallon

I've thought of keeping cichlids but the only ones I like are angels (and of course my fav color 'breed' is often wild caught) and I don't want an aggressive breeding so that's a nixed idea... Maybe I'll just have to store the stones until we move again and hope we end up somewhere with soft water. Bums me out because they look so damn awesome..

 

[Charlest]

Sorry aqua : / maybe you can let me know how many gallons your husband decides on and I can crunch the numbers for you. See how much of the alkaseltzer to add.

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[AquaAurora]

Sorry aqua : / maybe you can let me know how many gallons your husband decides on and I can crunch the numbers for you. See how much of the alkaseltzer to add.

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Its alright, no need to say sorry. And thank you I'll let you know once I get him to settle on one so I can put it together, if i don't end up using the rock i'll just save it for a rainy day so to speak.