Help with water tests

[Hammy]

First MERRY CHRISTMAS hope you’re all having a great time. For Christmas I received a master test kit for my aquarium I’ve done the tests on my bigger aquarium and they have given me the extra piece of mind knowing that the water is correct however I’m struggling to work out how to use the gh and kh drops test I’m thinking it’s 5ml aquarium water and then I start adding some drops until the water turns green so if it turns green at 8 drops you have roughly 140ppm if it changes green at 12 your ppm is 200. Does anyone know if that’s correct. Or can anyone give or tell me where to get better instructions as the instructions that came are very poor. Thanks for any help 

[Hammy]

Okay never mind I found a video showing me how to do it and now I’m going to tell you what the results are the gh is 11 and the kh is 5 and my overall tds/ppm is jumping between 198-203. What should the ideal gh-kh drop test be. Any advice is always greatly appreciated thanks in advance 

[Crabby]

4 hours ago, Hammy said:

What should the ideal gh-kh drop test be.

It entirely depends on what you’re keeping in the tank. 
 

4 hours ago, Hammy said:

the gh is 11 and the kh is 5 and my overall tds/ppm is jumping between 198-203.

This isn’t possible. One of your readings is incorrect, and I’d assume it’s probably the TDS. Are you using a TDS meter to test that?

To elaborate - when you test GH and KH with the API kit, you are testing for dGH and dKH. The d stands for degree. One degree of hardness - GH or KH - is equivalent to 17.9ppm. 
Now, KH and GH both contribute to your TDS, your total dissolved solids. So if we have 17.9 * 11 GH and 17.9 * 5 KH, that’s 197ppm GH and 90ppm KH. Which, added together, equals 287ppm. This value should be included within the TDS, and therefore the TDS value should probably be above 300 (due to other dissolved minerals and such that aren’t recorded in GH and KH tests).

Hope that’s helpful.

[Hammy]

Yeah that’s a reading from the tds/ppm meter thanks for the information This is my first time using the gh kh test and to be completely honest the instructions were pretty poor. I found a very short video on how to use but again information was poor. I’m going to do it all again tomorrow. I need to get it right. Thanks for your help 

[jayc]

You need to have a keen eye for API test kits.

The colour change can be subtle and difficult to detect. Use a pure white background. Looking down through the opening of the test tube can be easier to detect the colour change.

[sdlTBfanUK]

The 'ideal' range for neocaridina shrimp is widely accepted to be TDS 150-250, PH 7-7.5, KH 2-4, GH 6-8, but neocaridina are fairly robust and can survive outside these parameters, just not thrive or do as well.

Between adding drops, shake well and give it 2-5 seconds to allow it to react as the change can happen slowly/gradually when it gets to the right mix. If you are using the dGH and kGH as Crabby mentions, the figure needs to be times/divide but 17.9, ie if the figure quoted is in dGH and you want GH figure, divide the number by 17.9 (or 18, its easier). Very few people use the dGH or dKH though, usually the GH and KH! If the results that come with the kit say dGH/PPM are, 1 drop is 17.9, 2 drops 35.8 dGH etc (and I believe they do) then basically each drop would be 1 GH or KH.

[Hammy]

Hey guys HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. So I’ve done the api gh/kh drops test a few times now to get used to it so after doing it a few times and getting the same results which are KH-6 and GH-11 so I did a 50% water change and I’ve left it overnight and taken new test today and now I have a reading of KH-4 and GH-6 so I get a value of 179 when added but I’m having trouble understanding which reading on my tds meter to use. Example when I use the meter now I get a ppm reading of 163 as in first pic but that’s under my test reading. The meter has another mode and it gives a reading of 326 us/cm see second pic. Crabby mentioned that my value should be higher than my test reading because of other stuff in the water waste ect so I’m now unsure of what I’m doing wrong if I’m looking at the wrong mode on the meter or what. If you know what or have any thoughts/idea’s on what I’m doing wrong I’m all ears. Thanks for your time 

[Hammy]

The test kit just says GH&KH and here’s two picture’s of the little guys 

[jayc]

9 hours ago, Hammy said:

now I have a reading of KH-4 and GH-6 so I get a value of 179

Those values are fine, keep it at or close to those targets.

 

It's simpler to everyone to use PPM on the TDS meter. So stick to that when quoting TDS, unless you want to write µS/cm each time you mention microsiemens.

[sdlTBfanUK]

Those figures look good, as does the TDS, they all have room to increase with time but I would stick with them for now. The TDS is more likely to be the 163 (PPM) but either are fine anyway so I would use the meter/pen one each time!

It looks like everything is well from the photos and lots of juvenile shrimp? The light substrate works well with  those dark  colour shrimps.

I assume there are 2 separate tests in the API box, one for KH and another for GH?

[Hammy]

Yes one for GH and one for KH. Thanks for the help and piece of mind it’s extremely appreciated