KH&GH Question

[WishyFishy]

I was playing with Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ in RO water and got 4dKH and 12dGH.

Is it more important to have a certain dKH or GH, which should I be looking at when I'm remineralizing? I was also able to get 3dKH and 9dGH; would that work better or is 3dKH going to give me pH fluctuation?

I'm aiming to keep cherry shrimp, pygmy cories, and possibly ember tetras. Would they be okay at 4dKH & 12dGH?

Thanks!!

[nabokovfan87]

Which species of shrimp are you working on so I can grab the right video reference.

[BeeD]

KH is generally more important in PH buffering. My test kit is different, but if the scale is 0-12, I don't think 3 or 4 would necessarily be a problem, as long as you're not doing water changes with vastly different parameters, like straight RO water for example, you shouldn't see dangerous swings of any kind. A lot of people here seem to have water similar to yours, and they keep all of your targeted species.

GH is kind of broad, but if you're at 12 of 12, I doubt your fish are missing any vital minerals. 

[knee]

On 3/17/2023 at 12:57 PM, WishyFishy said:

I'm aiming to keep cherry shrimp, pygmy cories, and possibly ember tetras. Would they be okay at 4dKH & 12dGH?

Thanks!!

If it helps, I keep pygmy cory and ember tetras in 4 GH, 2-3KH water and they're doing really good. I've also kept neos in 2 GH, 1 KH water and they were still very prolific. Just keep it stable and as long as you have a KH reading your ph will be fine.

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:57 PM, WishyFishy said:

Is it more important to have a certain dKH or GH, which should I be looking at when I'm remineralizing?

If you use salty shrimp, I would only measure TDS as that's more important. I keep all my Cherry shrimp in lower TDS and 0KH. PH swing and pH crashes are never going to kill fish or shrimp. These are nothing more than wives tales. Sudden, extreme TDS movement and unmaintained tanks kill fish and shrimp.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Mmiller2001

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/17/2023 at 12:57 PM, WishyFishy said:

I'm aiming to keep cherry shrimp

I feel very blind for missing this, my apologies. 

OK.... Neocaridina Shrimp.  Here is the relevant video / playlist that would fit what you're doing.  He has quite a few videos on this topic and there might be another one that has further detail.  Playlists specific to neocaridina shrimp tank setup is also there for your viewing enjoyment.
 

On 3/17/2023 at 3:46 PM, knee said:

If it helps, I keep pygmy cory and ember tetras in 4 GH, 2-3KH water and they're doing really good. I've also kept neos in 2 GH, 1 KH water and they were still very prolific. Just keep it stable and as long as you have a KH reading your ph will be fine.

This is also pretty important.  Stability is the key.  Get your method down, be consistent in how you apply any buffer, and monitor them for how they behave during water changes.

Edited March 18, 2023 by nabokovfan87
more detailed video

[WishyFishy]

On 3/17/2023 at 5:42 PM, BrettD said:

KH is generally more important in PH buffering. My test kit is different, but if the scale is 0-12, I don't think 3 or 4 would necessarily be a problem, as long as you're not doing water changes with vastly different parameters, like straight RO water for example, you shouldn't see dangerous swings of any kind. A lot of people here seem to have water similar to yours, and they keep all of your targeted species.

GH is kind of broad, but if you're at 12 of 12, I doubt your fish are missing any vital minerals. 

Alright! Maybe I'll go with 3 and 9, over 4 and 12; I just didn't want it to swing and thought 4KH would be better for that.

On 3/17/2023 at 6:46 PM, knee said:

If it helps, I keep pygmy cory and ember tetras in 4 GH, 2-3KH water and they're doing really good. I've also kept neos in 2 GH, 1 KH water and they were still very prolific. Just keep it stable and as long as you have a KH reading your ph will be fine.

Ok, good! I went with 4KH over 3 because I didn't want it to swing, but maybe I'll go a little lower so the GH is a tad lower.

On 3/17/2023 at 10:26 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

If you use salty shrimp, I would only measure TDS as that's more important. I keep all my Cherry shrimp in lower TDS and 0KH. PH swing and pH crashes are never going to kill fish or shrimp. These are nothing more than wives tales. Sudden, extreme TDS movement and unmaintained tanks kill fish and shrimp.

I'll measure that too next time 🙂

On 3/18/2023 at 1:02 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I feel very blind for missing this, my apologies. 

OK.... Neocaridina Shrimp.  Here is the relevant video / playlist that would fit what you're doing.  He has quite a few videos on this topic and there might be another one that has further detail.  Playlists specific to neocaridina shrimp tank setup is also there for your viewing enjoyment.
 

This is also pretty important.  Stability is the key.  Get your method down, be consistent in how you apply any buffer, and monitor them for how they behave during water changes.

No worries! Thank you, I'll check those out! I'm new to keeping shrimp so I'm sure I will find them useful.