Jump to content

KH and GH testing kits


chatony111

Recommended Posts

Hi guys,

I recently acquired some CRS and have noticed on the web that people test for KH and GH in the water for their shrimp tanks. I went to my LFS and bought their Sera API combined kit, however it failed to change colour when i tested it against my tank water. The same thing happened when my LFS tested the same kit on their own water (i got a refund on the kit). 

My question is which kits do you guys use and is the colour change very noticable? Sorry i don't know much about these two WP so if you guys have any tips regarding it i would appreciate it too! Thanks guys

Edited by chatony111
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use API KH&GH, however i'm sure others are more experienced than I am and may offer better solutions for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use SERA kits.  KH starts yellow in the bottle but goes obvious blue on the first drop, you keep dropping until it goes yellow again.  if it doesn't change colour and stays yellow that means your KH <1.  If you have doubts sprinkle a few grains of bicarb soda into the test vial and it should instantly go blue (bicarb raises KH).  The KH colour shift is easy to see.

GH is muddy green colour in the bottle and 1st drop changes to muddy red, you keep dropping until it goes greenish again.  The colour change from muddy red to muddy green can be quite difficult to see, especially at low GH because only a few drops of colour in the sample vial means the sample is very pale.  At higher GH with more colour in the vial its a lot easier to see.  I normally hold the vial over a piece of white paper and with each drop ask myself does the sample have a red tint or a greeny tint?.  There is an issue that for old (past expiry date) GH kits the red tint becomes a muddy brown - so you're looking for a very subtle shift from muddy brown to muddy green/brown and its very difficult to see...  time to  toss and buy another.    As for KH, if you are uncertain if the kit has changed colour sprinkle some GH booster into the vial and see if the colour changes back to red.

The API kits use the same reagents and have the same colour changes.

 

Edited by Grubs
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can try looking down the test tube, ie. from the top, rather than from the side.

You will be able to perceive slight colour changes better from this view.

 

Alternatively, try Salifert brand for KH tests. You can change to a low range measurement just by reducing the sample water by half and multiplying the results by 2. Detailed instructions in the box, I believe. 

 

Similarly, their Nitrite and Nitrate test kits, can measure high range and low range with the one test.

Look from the top down into the bottle for high range, and look through the side for low range (divide by 10). Shrimples.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think Salifert have a GH test kit.

 

FYI - All of Salifert's test kit instructions in one PDF. http://www.marineaquarium.gr/downloads/SalifertTestKitsinstructions.pdf

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone know how to use api test kits? I've got the drops and vials, just no instructions!!  TiA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone know how to use api test kits? I've got the drops and vials, just no instructions!!  TiA

http://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/GH_and_KH_Test_Kit_and_KH_Test_Kit_58-59_Insert.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks 

http://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/GH_and_KH_Test_Kit_and_KH_Test_Kit_58-59_Insert.pdf

thanks mate! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
    • GtWalker97
      Hi SKF!   So I bought some PRL (or at least they were sold as such. These claims are dubious in Australia as people don't know much about the genetics, nor do they care as long as they can make a quick buck). After 8 generations of breeding true, I'm having around 1 in 200 throw a much darker red. They almost look like Red Shadows, but I don't know too much about those types of hybrid. Can anyone help with ID'ing the gene?   TIA (First 2 pics are the weird throws, second photo is their siblings and the last photo is the parents)
×
×
  • Create New...