Wonder Shell Time to Affect Hardness

[ChrisD]

How long does it take for a Wonder Shell to have an effect?

Prior to the addition of a small Wonder Shell to a 10 gallon tank, my dGH was ~6 and my dKH was essentially 0. After the addition of the Wonder Shell and waiting 24 hours, my dGH was about 6.5 while my dKH was still essentially 0.

Should I expect a rise in dKH in a 24 hour period?

Would my plants be absorbing the extra minerals released by the Wonder Shell hence the apparent failure to raise the calcium hardness?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Cory]

Wonder shells don't raise your buffer, only your hardness. Depending on how hard your water is, and the pH of your water is how fast it'll dissolve and raise dGH. 

[ChrisD]

Perhaps I did not communicate or use terminology properly. I used dGH and dKH to mean the number of drops of GH and KH test solution used from my API test kit. They say that one drop = 1 degree of hardness.

[Cory]

Wondershells will raise your GH, but shouldn't raise your KH. 

[Mr. Ed's Aquatics]

26 minutes ago, Cory said:

Wondershells will raise your GH, but shouldn't raise your KH. 

I get this question a lot too. To raise the KH (assuming your water source is insufficient to increase it with water changes) you need to add natural buffers such as crushed coral, Aragonite sand, dolomite or soda ash.

I always suggest either crushed coral or Aragonite sand in addition to the substrate or instead of it all together (depending on how much you are trying to raise it).

[Tami]

so here's what I am hearing: wonder shell to raise GH and crushed coral for KH --- KH will buffer my water to keep my pH stable, so why would I want to raise my GH (other than to have harder water for particular fish). thanks

[Daniel]

There was a good discussion of GH in this blog post:

The Fish Keeper’s Guide to pH, GH, and KH

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

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pH, GH, and KH are terms commonly used in water chemistry, but there is a lot of confusion surrounding them in the freshwater aquarium hobby. This...

Basically, if your shrimp are having trouble molting, or your snails have thin or pitted shells, or your plants have a calcium deficiency, you might want to raise your GH a bit.