# Help With Gh And Kh Please



## Hobbyist (Jan 3, 2015)

I was using test strips to test water quality and when I started having algae issues someone told me it was a deficiency in something that I needed a master test kit the strips were not reliable.

I tested with the master kit yesterday results were 0 Nitrites 0 Ammonia 6.4PH and here is where the confusion comes in the KH took about 15 drops to turn a bright yellow and GH I never did get to turn green I stopped before I used the entire bottle! Using test strips the GH is 300 and KH is 40.

I use planted substrate that is about four years old I did add Fluorite to it this past year to help with iron for plants and the only thing in aquarium other than plants is the driftwood. I use PPS PRO system fertilizers and root tabs. I also have pressurized co2 and a PH regulator on the aquarium.

I was trying to test to find out how to alter the fertilizers to my water quality but all I am is confused can someone please help?

Also I would like to know would this problem cause my drop checker to turn clear instead of blue or yellow when put in aquarium?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Have you tried testing the GH and KH of your tap water? You may have very alkaline water from your municipal water utility - I used to have the same thing in SLC, Utah, where the utility got their water from wells. Almost every house in SLC had a water softener, and I went a step further with an RO system.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

For the kh test it only needs to change color. Attaining a "bright" color is not necessary. That high of gh/kh, I'd be looking to cut somehow, but that is just me. I used to be in a high gh/kh area with well water and used to cut with 50% RODI water to get the levels down to a manageable area. Not a requirement by any means. Most fish are more susceptible to changes in gh/kh rather than ph and keeping it in the 5-10 range always seemed to work best for me and any type of fish I wanted to keep. You will need to pay attention to that more when putting fish in your tank. I don't think you need to alter your ferts based on your water type, but you might be able to omit any adding of gh additives like I use.

What is the ph of your water out of the tap?

You need to get 4dkh solution for use in your drop checker. Using your tank water is the wrong way - if that is what you have been doing. Add 4 drops of the API low range ph test and then the rest is the 4dkh solution, which will yield a deep blue for the start. You can get 4dkh online or there are directions out there to make your own.


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## fishguy2727 (Sep 5, 2011)

Honestly, unless you are having issues there are just numbers that can be ignored. In most cases it is best to do big weekly water changes, no matter what the numbers tell you. Stability of the parameters and high water quality are much more important that specific numbers.

The one worth paying attention to is nitrate. I don't see that listed, what is it? What is the usual water change schedule?

Freshwater Chemistry


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