Kh hardness

[TeeJay]

Ok guys around Feb 15 my kh had crashed from a 5 to a zero. Not sure what happend. So on Feb 19 I added 1lbs of crushed coral in a media bag and put it in my hob. In that 32 days it has increased back up to a 3. I would like for it to get up to at least a 6 because I keep live-bearers and snails. My question is will it go any higher than that with the amount in using or should I increase to more coral and n the filter? All other parameters are doing good with pH at steady 7.6 and nitrates at 40-50ppm. Ammonia and nitrites at 0. Gh it's steady at a 13

[Fish Folk]

How large is your aquarium?

For what it’s worth, I breed loads of live bearers in soft water (3-drops KH).

[TeeJay]

It's a 29gal

[AndreaW]

What is the KH of your water source?

[Dawn T]

I have the same question as AndreaW above. If the KH of your water source is better, a good water change will bring it back up. I haven't found crushed coral to be much help when KH has crashed that badly in the past. It helps keep it stable once it's back up where it belongs, but not with bringing it up where it needs to be when it dropped that low once. My water is around 7.4 pH, and harder more alkaline water doesn't dissolve things like crushed coral at as high a rate as soft, acidic water.

[Patrick_G]

Seems ok to me. My guppies breed like rabbits in slightly acidic, low KH water. Are yours showing signs of distress? 

[TeeJay]

It's a 29gal tank. No all of my fish are doing good. Eating well and very active. I usually do about 40 percent water change one a week. So I guess I really have nothing to worry about as long as see no signs of distress. I was just confused that the KH had crashed like that. When it's a pH crash or ammonia or nitrate spikes there usually easier to figure out the issue.

[TeeJay]

Ok kh straight out of the tap is a 3 as well. So I'm thinking maybe I had some bad test strips that made me think my kh crashed. I got some new ones so we will see how that goes.