gh & kh

[Slaphppy7]

I recently purchased the gh & kh kit from API, and have a few questions about testing tap:

Does the water need to stand or gas off before testing?
Should I test cold tap water, warm tap water?

I haven't read the directions yet, are they pretty straightforward?...

When testing the tanks' water, should I wait until the day before a WC or does it matter when I test it?

[Rocksor]

You can test right away out of the tap. You can test the tank before a water change. The only time KH will be much lower than tap is due to not enough water changes. A 25% water change weekly will not change KH or GH in your tank. People with hard water generally have a KH way above 4 out of the tap.

[Silbar]

I'm no expert, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.
I wouldn't think that you tap water softness/hardness would change whether the water is cold or warm or if it stood at room temp for a bit. As far as the tank water, I would first test it before a water change to see what it's baseline is. Then you can recheck, if you want, the next day to compare the two. The instructions are very straight forward, it's just counting the number of drops for a change in color (for both tests).

In my small tanks where the pH was dropping, I tested the gh/kh first. Then I started to add Equilibrium to bring the levels to a more stable level. Once I did this a few times after WCs I haven't had to add the Equilibrium very often

[Silbar]

Rocksor beat me to it. I take too long to type and think.

[Slaphppy7]

Thanks Sil and Rock.

So, looking at the conversion chart on the instructions, the first range is 0-3. with a small circle next to each digit...is this the amount of drops?

The instructions say to invert the tube after each drop, but then states to watch for a color change after the test tube is shaken (?)...should I invert or shake between each drop?

[AmazonJoe]

.
Yep invert and shake after each drop. That is the dH chart open the instructions more and there will be a conversion chart to dH for each drop.

[Slaphppy7]

I see the chart, my question is, the ranges 0-3, 3-6, 6-11, etc....are those the amount of drops of solution from the bottle?...each number has a small circle next to it, like it is marked in "degrees"

[AmazonJoe]

No that is the degree of hardness range it has ppm equivalent there also.

The GH/KH conversion chart is at the very end of the instructions.

[Slaphppy7]

I see it now.

Tap = TDS of 66, kh = 2 drops, gh = 3 drops
40B = TDS of 107, kh = 3 drops, gh = 5 drops
29G = TDS of 106, kh =3 drops, gh = 4 drops

Now, what does all of this mean, lol

I'll have to wait a week to test the 5.5G and the 10G

[AmazonJoe]

You have very soft water with low dissolved solids and hardness :)

[Slaphppy7]

What's weird is the TDS of my tap, it used to be around the 115 or so range.

I tested the meter with calibration solution, the solution is supposed to be 342 ppm, meter shows 336 ppm, so it's not far off (?)

[AmazonJoe]

doesn't sound to bad of a difference on the calibration.

[Slaphppy7]

Not to me, either

I was always under the impression that my water was moderately hard...I guess it's still OK for the fish I have

[Slaphppy7]

I forget to mention ph, it's usually around 7.6 from the tap, 7.0 or 7.1 in all of the tanks

[Rocksor]

What's weird is the TDS of my tap, it used to be around the 115 or so range.

I tested the meter with calibration solution, the solution is supposed to be 342 ppm, meter shows 336 ppm, so it's not far off (?)

With all the rains and snow your water company could have changed out or added water from a different source. Hence the different TDS from tap. Water quality from the tap can change from year to year and season to season.

is the higher ph out of tap after the water has been sitting out for 24 hours?

[Slaphppy7]

Good call, I did not think of that!

We have been getting ALOT of rain here lately, it is pouring down now, as a matter of fact...our main local water source is a large river.

I looked back in another thread, and when I first got my TDS meter, I tested the tap, and it measured 105 ppm.

Yes, the higher ph of the tap is measured after sitting out for at least 24 hours...I am going to use that method, and test again over the next day.

[Rocksor]

With a lower TDS due to more pure water, your KH could be lower than before, and the nitrogen cycle could naturally be bringing down your ph in the tank. A KH of 2 is pretty low out of tap, and if you are using fertilizers, you are bringing the KH up to one point. A higher KH will prevent PH drops. Since your fish are doing fine, I would just watch the ph, gh and kh every 2-3 weeks.

[Slaphppy7]

Makes perfect sense. I use no fertilizers, other than an occasional root tab, but have not added one to any of my tanks in some months.

When doing the gh and kh tests, I stopped adding drops as soon as the color in the test tube water changed...is this the correct method?...or should one continue adding drops until the new color is "bright"

The color change was subtle, not bright, but definitely there.

[Rocksor]

Makes perfect sense. I use no fertilizers, other than an occasional root tab, but have not added one to any of my tanks in some months.

When doing the gh and kh tests, I stopped adding drops as soon as the color in the test tube water changed...is this the correct method?...or should one continue adding drops until the new color is "bright"

The color change was subtle, not bright, but definitely there.

add drops and mix until turns to the correct color, so one more drop would have definitely brought it to the correct reading.

[Slaphppy7]

Great, thanks for your help...I'll continue to monitor ph, gh, and kh in the next few weeks, and will post results here.

One other note, I recently added a small piece of cuttlebone to all 4 tanks, for the shrimp and snails.

Hopefully this will not affect anything adversely, I've used it in the past with no issues.

[Slaphppy7]

For personal reference points:

4 weeks ago, my tap TDS was 60

2 weeks ago, it was 72

Today, it is 91

[Slaphppy7]

Back down to 61 today.

[Taurus]

What about the KH Matt?

[Slaphppy7]

I don't know, will have to test later, in the middle of a WC on the 29G

[Slaphppy7]

KH = 2 drops
GH = 3 drops

I'm curious about running these tests at different temps...water coming through an appliance, like the water heater may have different readings than water that comes straight from my city provider

I'll experiment tomorrow

[Rocksor]

KH = 2 drops
GH = 3 drops

I'm curious about running these tests at different temps...water coming through an appliance, like the water heater may have different readings than water that comes straight from my city provider

I'll experiment tomorrow

The city tests the cold water, so if you want to test the readings and compare, use your cold tap water for comparison. If you test warm tap water that uses hot water from a hot water heater, it can affect the reading since hot water is more soluble than cold water. What this means is that the hot water will have a higher TDS due to it absorbing any soluble material left in the hot water heater. With certain water types, varying hardness, it is advisable to flush the hot water heater from time to time.

For people with really hard water, flushing the water heater is useless, and it's better to just replace water heater when the output becomes so small that you no longer get hot water.

[Slaphppy7]

Thanks Rock.

A master plumber from my work installed the heater some years back, and insisted I buy and use an extra anode tube.

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/Longevity/water-heater-anodes.html

[angelcraze2]

Slap, your water is soft like mine.
From my tap:
TDS=45, kh=2, gh=2

The cuttlebone won't hurt at all.

[Slaphppy7]

Thanks ac, missed your reply because I forgot to subscribe to my own thread, lol

Today's tap TDS = 64