Should I be concerned, High GH/KH

4685 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Fresh fish, Apr 17, 2017

Fresh fish

Discussion Starter · Apr 16, 2017

So I just got a GH/KH test kit, I tested my tank it took 14 drops to turn the KH, and 23 drops to turn the GH, does that mean I have a KH 14 and GH 23, that seems high, I tested out of the tap it took 10 drops for the KH, and 15 for the GH, i have sand, a small piece of driftwood and dragon stone in my tank, would the dragon stone raise the paramaters?

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Dman911

· #2 · Apr 16, 2017

Fresh fish said:
So I just got a GH/KH test kit, I tested my tank it took 14 drops to turn the KH, and 23 drops to turn the GH, does that mean I have a KH 14 and GH 23, that seems high, I tested out of the tap it took 10 drops for the KH, and 15 for the GH, i have sand, a small piece of driftwood and dragon stone in my tank, would the dragon stone raise the paramaters?

Depending on the test kit. Read the instruction for interpretations. Mine is Nutrifin and for GH you count the drops and multiply by 20 then multiply by .056 to get you DGH. For KH its multiply drop by 10 then multiply by.056 for DKH

People generally refer to Degrees (D) KH or GH. the drops are more than likely not your DKH or DGH.

Dan

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Seattle_Aquarist

· #3 · Apr 16, 2017

Hi Fresh fish,

Are you eastern BC or on the west side of the province? Yes, 14.0 dKH and 23 dGH would be considered high in my book. The tap water readings are much better, although still much higher than what I see here in Seattle. True ADA Dragon Stone is made up of lava and should be basically inert, however some of the Dragon Stone I have seen looks more like limestone to me than lava. Pull the stone out of the tank, rinse it off, put a little white vinegar on the lighter areas of the stone, does it fizz or bubble - then limestone. And limestone will increase your hardness over time unless you are conscientious about you weekly water changes. I have some Ying Stone (Yin Stone/Seiryu Stone) in my tanks and it doesn't effect my hardness unless I get lazy and skip water changes. Some of my Microsorum pteropus (java fern) seem to actually like the additional Ca in the limestone.

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Fresh fish

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 16, 2017

Sorry I forgot to mention its an API test kit, eastern side of BC, my dragon stone is the more orange colored type, I will have to test it when i have a moment, I try to do weekly changes, but sometimes miss one here and there, ussuly 50% link to our water report http://www.fortstjohn.ca/node/16180

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Dman911

· #5 · Apr 16, 2017

Fresh fish said:
Sorry I forgot to mention its an API test kit, eastern side of BC, my dragon stone is the more orange colored type, I will have to test it when i have a moment, I try to do weekly changes, but sometimes miss one here and there, ussuly 50% link to our water report City of Fort St. John | Treated Water Analysis 2016

API is 1 drop = 1 Degree GH or KH. So yes your DKH and DGH are as you stated.

Dan

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Seattle_Aquarist

· #6 · Apr 16, 2017

Hi Fresh fish,

Thank you for the link, yes you do have a lot of Ca and Mg in the water which is no doubt the source of your hardness levels.

Should you be concerned? No, unless you are trying to keep or breed fish or plants that require very soft water. Even then, most fish and some plant species can be acclimated to live in harder water conditions. I would just be as conscientious as I could about doing my weekly water changes.

If you wanted to grow soft water plants or spawn soft water fish you could always mix your water 1/4 tap and 3/4 RO (reverse osmosis) water.

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Fresh fish

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 17, 2017

Thanks guys! if i ever get into shrimp i guess ill have to go ro and mineralize, but for now I guess Ill let things be, the only plant ive had trouble with for some reason in ludwigia palustris, I have tried that one twice and both times it just melts away, shame as its such a nice color!

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BigMek

· #8 · Apr 17, 2017

If you keep Neocaridina shrimp rather than Caridina you might not have to go with remineralizer. They prefer hard, alkaline water. I've got liquid rock and don't do anything to change its parameters (I even top off with tap water!) and fish, shrimp and plants are all healthy. Though I don't keep any demanding species, so your mileage may vary.

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Fresh fish

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 17, 2017

I did have a 5 gal tank with cherry shrimp last year, i got 25 to start 1 berried, a couple had saddles, things seemd to be going ok, i had plants and moss in that tank, and almond leaves, had some babies, some adult deaths, more berried, more babies, but it seemed like instead of the population growing it dwindled down to nothing over time, I fed every couple days algae wafer, sometimes a bit of flake food, and blanched veggies, I would top off with ro, but when i did small water changes it was with tap, nitrates never really made it up past 10, so I kinda gave up on them and took the tank down it was up for about a year. I dont have a tds meter, so maybe it climbed way up,

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