GH & KH Help

[GotCrabs]

OK, BRB.

 

KH 3

 

GH 18

 

Perhaps I should get some distilled water and some Salty Shrimp.

[GotCrabs]

really and your GH is that high, what is the TDS in the rain water?

 

maybe test just the rain water for GH

 

Oh and TDS is 58.

[perplex]

holy crap, you have it running of dirty roof tops, and gutters i guess, whatever makes it hard

 

you have a TDS pen too?

 

that GH is like my bore water lol

 

wonder if your main water is just as bad out there

Edited February 18, 2015 by perplex

[GotCrabs]

holy crap, you have it running of dirty roof tops, and gutters i guess, whatever makes it hard

 

you have a TDS pen too?

 

that GH is like my bore water lol

 

wonder if your main water is just as bad out there

 

Normal water has real high TDS and PH, not sure about GH and KH and not going to test it if the TDS and PH is high.

 

Might just lean towards a big bottle of distilled water and Salty Shrimp GH+

[perplex]

yea or collect your own water in a bucket when it rains :P

[GotCrabs]

yea or collect your own water in a bucket when it rains :P

 

Rain? What's that?!

[GotCrabs]

Does anyone know if you can actually buy bottled RO water?

[kizshrimp]

Hey crabs, TDS is 58 what? ppm? Either 17 or 18 dGH amounts to a much higher level than that, in the range of 300ppm. And the TDS measurement includes more than just the GH level - something is wrong somewhere. 

 

With the API GH kit you're looking at an orange colour than strengthens nearly to red as you add more drops to very hard water. Green is the endpoint and the first sign of a change from orange to green is that point. Add one drop at a time and cap & shake the vial. If you're not getting a change to green within about 3 drops the either the kit is faulty or the vial is contaminated. Don't mix up your test kit vials!! That said I guess the kit is faulty, API GH reagent does go off, especially in heat. 

 

You can buy bottled distilled and demineralised waters which will serve the purpose adequately. They're at the supermarket up to about 2L and Bunnings and other joints have 20L. 

[GotCrabs]

With the API GH kit you're looking at an orange colour than strengthens nearly to red as you add more drops to very hard water. Green is the endpoint and the first sign of a change from orange to green is that point. Add one drop at a time and cap & shake the vial. If you're not getting a change to green within about 3 drops the either the kit is faulty or the vial is contaminated. Don't mix up your test kit vials!! That said I guess the kit is faulty, API GH reagent does go off, especially in heat. 

 

 

Interesting you say it can go off because when I add the liquid it isn't orange, it's either clear then turns yellow and eventually green.

[kizshrimp]

Yeah I've had to replace that particular reagent quite a few times, often it would seem prematurely. The iffy colour behavior you describe seems about right for dud reagent. 

[GotCrabs]

Yeah I've had to replace that particular reagent quite a few times, often it would seem prematurely. The iffy colour behavior you describe seems about right for dud reagent. 

 

Yeah, sounds like I've got a dud then, will have to replace it then, so fingers crossed GH could actually be alright.

 

Every other WP is fine.

[perplex]

ill do mine and take come pictures of it and post, this way you can see the colours

[perplex]

Mr Crabs, this is the colours you need, my Kh is 4 drops and my Gh is 9 drops and my TDS is 170

 

the kh isnt from my tank as mine is 0, goes orange right away

 

but does anyone know why my GH is abit high? the water i put in is Rain water and its a Gh of 2 drops, only product im adding is Jayc DIY Remineralisation, i know this lowers the Ph, im going to have to test it to see if it highers the GH too, asume it does since it raised the TDS, maybe ill try aim for 135 TDS now? For CRS

Edited February 18, 2015 by perplex

[kizshrimp]

JayC's DIY remineralisation thread describes adding mostly Calcium sulphate and Magnesium sulphate with some other minerals, most importantly Potassium. GH is a measure of primarily Calcium and Magnesium in the water, so is most certainly affected by those additions. EC and therefore TDS is a measure of virtually everything dissolved in the water and so includes those GH minerals, plus more. 9 dGH is about 160ppm, so most of your TDS reading is from the mineral additions you've made. If you want lower readings you'll have to add less. 

[jayc]

Kizshrimp shrimp is correct.

Ca & Mg will raise GH. In fact, all remineralising products like salty shrimp, mosura mineral plus, etc will also raise GH.

Just use less if you want to maintain a lower reading.

In order to notice more subtle changes to the colour while testing, look down the test tube, rather than from the side.

Don't know why Crab's GH is so high though.

[GotCrabs]

Sorry lads, just got online, been a hectic 24 hours, Mum is in hospital, got x rays and scans this morning, found something on the scans so we are waiting for results, she collapsed at work Monday, couldn't get out of bed Tuesday, Wednesday in hospital and today scans and x rays, just waiting to see what this is that showed up in the scans.

 

I'll come back and reply to you all when things settle a little, cheers for all the info.

[Disciple]

I hope she gets well soon.

[GotCrabs]

Mr Crabs, this is the colours you need, my Kh is 4 drops and my Gh is 9 drops and my TDS is 170

 

the kh isnt from my tank as mine is 0, goes orange right away

 

but does anyone know why my GH is abit high? the water i put in is Rain water and its a Gh of 2 drops, only product im adding is Jayc DIY Remineralisation, i know this lowers the Ph, im going to have to test it to see if it highers the GH too, asume it does since it raised the TDS, maybe ill try aim for 135 TDS now? For CRS

 

Yeah the GH is nothing like the one you show, it goes yellow first and then green so must be a problem with the reagent.

[GotCrabs]

Kizshrimp shrimp is correct.

Ca & Mg will raise GH. In fact, all remineralising products like salty shrimp, mosura mineral plus, etc will also raise GH.

Just use less if you want to maintain a lower reading.

In order to notice more subtle changes to the colour while testing, look down the test tube, rather than from the side.

Don't know why Crab's GH is so high though.

 

I'll grab another GH KH Kit tomorrow and test again, might be just mine GH reagent.

Edited February 19, 2015 by GotCrabs

[GotCrabs]

I hope she gets well soon.

 

Cheers mate.

[perplex]

Kizshrimp shrimp is correct.

Ca & Mg will raise GH. In fact, all remineralising products like salty shrimp, mosura mineral plus, etc will also raise GH.

Just use less if you want to maintain a lower reading.

In order to notice more subtle changes to the colour while testing, look down the test tube, rather than from the side.

Don't know why Crab's GH is so high though.

how do i get higher TDS if i dont add as much? i want like 150 TDS i think, so if i add less to lower the GH the TDS might be to low?

 

I'll grab another GH KH Kit tomorrow and test again, might be just mine GH reagent.

maybe take it to your local fish shop and get them to test before you buy another, no point wasting money if yours is fine

[GotCrabs]

how do i get higher TDS if i dont add as much? i want like 150 TDS i think, so if i add less to lower the GH the TDS might be to low?

 

maybe take it to your local fish shop and get them to test before you buy another, no point wasting money if yours is fine

 

I don't even know if they know what they are doing, half the tanks in there have dead fish in them, it's a shocking fish store and the 'good' fish store closed doors a month or two ago, think I'll just buy another API kit, they aren't much.

[kizshrimp]

Perplex, I'm not following you (perplexed). Initially you said you had a TDS of 170 / GH of 9. If you want a lower level like TDS 150, you need to add less salts to your water. 150 is less than 170. 

To be extra clear, you will have to change some water and not add any salts to reduce your GH and TDS. Or at least add less than before when you do your changes. 

 

Crabs, they probably don't know what they're doing. It's much easier for an unscrupulous retailer to make money than a good one. Even so, they can still do a GH test for you - if you watch them adding the drops you'll get an idea if their reagent is ok or not. 

I hope your mum gets better soon too mate. 

[GotCrabs]

150 is less than 170. 

 

 

You learn something new everyday, haha, thanks Kiz.

[perplex]

Perplex, I'm not following you (perplexed). Initially you said you had a TDS of 170 / GH of 9. If you want a lower level like TDS 150, you need to add less salts to your water. 150 is less than 170. 

To be extra clear, you will have to change some water and not add any salts to reduce your GH and TDS. Or at least add less than before when you do your changes. 

 

Crabs, they probably don't know what they're doing. It's much easier for an unscrupulous retailer to make money than a good one. Even so, they can still do a GH test for you - if you watch them adding the drops you'll get an idea if their reagent is ok or not. 

I hope your mum gets better soon too mate. 

yea i mean my GH is 9 atm, with a TDS of 170, if i lower my TDS to 150, my GH is about 7, what is still abit high, since CRS are best in 150 TDS 3-6 GH, what im saying is i cant reach 150 TDS with about 4-5 GH