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Post by twoluvcats on Jan 8, 2005 10:50:40 GMT -5
My KH is sky high, but my GH is low low low...from my water softener. My KH is testing out at anywhere between 161.9ppm to 214.8ppm in all my tanks (with a regent test), but then in the same tank my GH is 17.9ppm to 35.8ppm...does this mean something significant? should I be worried? Is it normal? I don't get why the 2 numbers are so far apart.
and I tested the KH of the water pre-softener, and my regent test doesn't even test that high...yes our water is THAT hard...gas mining has really mucked up our water supply
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Post by amanichen on Jan 8, 2005 12:58:05 GMT -5
should I be worried? Is it normal? I don't get why the 2 numbers are so far apart. Chemically, they really don't affect each other at all. KH is carbonate which is pH buffering, and GH is calcium + magnesium which are two metals necessary for fish health. (OK, technically, if you're using calcium carbonate as a buffer you'll see a small change in hardness with a pH change, but it shouldnt' be that noticeable.) You're using R/O water with a buffer added, right? |
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Post by twoluvcats on Jan 8, 2005 14:44:18 GMT -5
i'm using r/o water, but i haven't started using the buffer yet, just cause i don't know how fast it will drop the ph.
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Post by amanichen on Jan 8, 2005 14:53:15 GMT -5
i'm using r/o water, but i haven't started using the buffer yet, just cause i don't know how fast it will drop the ph. The pH of your r/o water is above 7 right? And remember, you can get very precise control over the pH in your tank using water changes. |
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Post by twoluvcats on Jan 8, 2005 16:13:48 GMT -5
ya, the r/o pH is 7.2...but the tanks are all staying around 7.8-8 still.
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Post by amanichen on Jan 8, 2005 16:40:41 GMT -5
ya, the r/o pH is 7.2...but the tanks are all staying around 7.8-8 still. What kind of substrate do you have in your tanks? I'm confused...is the KH being elevated by the softening system? |
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Post by twoluvcats on Jan 10, 2005 11:02:11 GMT -5
sand substrate in all tanks...playsand from lowe's, washed the crap out of it.
i'm pretty sure that the KH is being lowered by the softener, it was 350+ without the softener. and the PH out of the tap was 8-8.2
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Post by amanichen on Jan 10, 2005 11:10:39 GMT -5
sand substrate in all tanks...playsand from lowe's, washed the crap out of it. i'm pretty sure that the KH is being lowered by the softener, it was 350+ without the softener. and the PH out of the tap was 8-8.2 Ok...so is there a particular issue youre trying to resolve, or was your question in the original post? |
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Post by twoluvcats on Jan 10, 2005 11:13:53 GMT -5
you've answered my question for right now...i know i'll have more, but i just wanted to make sure that something wasn't totally wrong with the GH and KH being so far apart  |
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Post by amanichen on Jan 10, 2005 11:17:51 GMT -5
you've answered my question for right now...i know i'll have more, but i just wanted to make sure that something wasn't totally wrong with the GH and KH being so far apart Wow, there I go trying to solve a problem that isn't there! |
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