[pittiepride]

I am going to be setting up a new tank and decided to take a look at my water in my old tank. I have just cheep kits but this is what I got

GH 180 mod. hard
KH 90
PHosphates are 0,
Nitrites are 0
pH is 7.6

All in all I was surprised that the GH, KH and pH are so high. I suspect it is the gravel. The plants in the tank survive (java fern, wisteria) on just what's in the tank and minimal lighting.

Now my tap water is GH of 60 and KH of <10. I know the conductivity is only 15 or so, so a tds of 10 ppm. The pH is only 6.8.

So, my questions are what kind of things should I expect to set up my new tank with Eco-complete gravel, 2.4 wpg lighting, and CO2 (hopefully pressurized)?

- I suspect I will need to harden my water a bit to increase the KH, should I use the baking soda method? Will CO2 change my KH? By increasing my KH before CO2 I should help reduce pH swings right?

- My GH of 60 seems like it would be okay for plants that like soft water. Will changing my KH change my GH?

- Can you use a more permenant solution for hardening water like, coral, limestone, oyster shells as substrate or in the filter?

Thanks, hopefully these are stupid questions. I just want to do it right before setting up 55g of water and killing everything!

kara

 

[Naja002]

Hi Kara,

It really doesn't sound like you need to do anything at all to your water. The Kh, Gh, pH are all fine. Actually: Very Good. I wish I had your tap water. The only thing that you may want to sort out is the composition of the Gh, ie., How much Ca to Mg. You may need to add a little Mg via epsoms salt, but you may not. So, on the surface--You've got Great tap water !

HTH