Water Chemistry - raising GH and KH

[Marksor]

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=5;action=display;threadid=1153

GH (General Hardness) = 1.0 °kH
KH (Carbonate Hardness) = 1.0 °kH

In the Seattle area, there is very soft water, and I find that the PH changes depending on time of year (i.e. two months ago out of the tap it was 7.0, and currently it is 8.0).

I have managed to get the PH stable through water storage for at least 24 hours, but would like to increase GH and KH. Going through the "water works" Section is challenging because some of the "treatments" on the market treat only KH, some only GH, and I wonder how PH will be impacted by adding these treatments (i.e. Equilibrium, RO VITAL, Discus Essential). I have also heard that some people use natural coral and epsom salt to change their water chemistry.

Any suggestions on how to improve my water chemistry would be really appreciated. Thanks!!

[Don_Lee]

I believe that RO Vital takes care of both KH and GH. RO Right is used quite a bit, buy I am not sure of its effects on KH. Common baking soda can raise ones KH from what I have read. I would stay away from Equilibrium unless you have plants, seems like the mix is oriented towards plants needs.

HTH,

Don ;D

[BlueTurquoise]

Don,

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that Baking Soda rasises GH? ???

Mark, is there a reason why you want to increase GH and KH? Your perameters sound pretty ok to me if not a bit low perhaps. If you use RO, won't that serve to strip your water of however little KH and GH it already has? That would mean that your KH and GH will be near zero after RO? ???

My Tap is KH 2deg, GH 7Deg (approx) and PH 8 just as a reference.

I would say that if you use aged tap, even if PH fluctuates during the year, it may still be fine so long as the fluctuations aren't severe overnight fluctuations.

Since your KH is so low I would avoid trying to change your PH as your water has Super Low buffering capacity. I have 2deg KH and even a tiny bag of activated carbon lowers my water's PH drastically...

I would use baking soda to raise GH and forget about KH and PH. It's cheap and I think if you had around the 6-7 Gh you should be rocking and rolling...

HTH
Chong

[Daniel_SR]

Hi Chong, actually, baking soda raises KH. Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium will raise GH, ok?

See you,

Daniel

[Don_Lee]

Chong, you should respect your elders...LOL. I believe baking soda does in fact raise KH.

Don ;D

[Bigmo]

My gh was zero and my kh 17 I bought some ro right by kent and increased the gh a little to read between 1-2 which is better then zero. I would have added more ro right, but they recommend only adding what was given to add, regardless of what your test kits read. I was losing fish left and right and couldn't figure out why. It turns out my gh was at zero, and my fish weren't getting the proper mineral they needed to grow. They were all getting hole in the head. Now my fish seem fine. I tested the kh level, as well as ph level after I distributed the ro right, and it didn't affect those readings at all. Just my experience