Help Deciphering Water Test?

[RedwoodLion]

Hello folks, brand new to the forum with only a couple of years experience. In the process of my parents buying a new house they had to get a test done on the well (the house is off grid and all water is from a well). I know how to read an aquarium test strip but these water results are a little confusing here and there. I was wondering if someone would be able to interpret them into the usual KH and GH and such? Sorry if this isn't the right place for this thread and thanks in advance!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@modified lung what do you make of this?

[nabokovfan87]

welcome to the forums!

If you look up your own city water company they should have a yearly audit with water testing and it does explain some thing via comments.  I am sure sometimes those responses are very much a copy+paste job, but it is some insight as to what you're looking at.

GH = Calcium + Magnesium.... if I had to guess it would be about 2-3 degrees, but it's very difficult to say without testing using the kit.
KH = "hardness" which looks like you're at about 3 degrees.
TDS = very low, this corresponds with what you're seeing. 

[RedwoodLion]

I see, thank you. That clarifies some things for sure. For live bearers I'm guessing this would need to be boosted both in PH as well as KH/GH but for fish like a gourami or betta this would be fine?

Of course I do plan to take my test kit up there when they get the keys but since my dad sent me the report I figured I'd try to see what I could get from it. I am by no means a scientist though! 😄

[Galabar]

I try to keep GH at least 4 and KH at least 2.5 - 3 in my tanks.  So, your water would be almost perfect... 🙂

You could add a tiny bit of something like SeaChem Equilibrium (GH).  However, I think you could just go straight with what you have and most fish would be fine.

[Galabar]

My water (in the Seattle area) is around 28 TDS and 0-1 KH and 0-1 GH.  So, I do need to add some SeaChem Equilibrium and Alkalinity Buffer.  However, even at my low levels, I was certainly able to keep fish before I started using any additives.

 

[RedwoodLion]

That's good to hear. My we've been exited to be able to set up a tank for my dad without him having to fuss around with water conditioner and such. We're in California and the well is one of the cleanest ones in our rural area of according to the guys at the lab.

[tolstoy21]

The best thing to know is that 1 mg/L = 1 part per million (ppm).

As @nabokovfan87 mentioned, GH is comprised of calcium and magnesium. Adding your numbers, you get 29.5ppm total (27 calcium + 2.5 magnesium). One dGH (degrees of general hardness) is equal to 17.9 mg/L or 17.9 ppm. So, if we divide 29.5 by 17.9, you are looking at GH reading of 1.6.

KH contributes to the alkalinity or acidity of the water. But the measurement is typically just referred to as alkalinity. KH is comprised of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate.  Calcium is the pure elemental form of the mineral, while calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is a compound comprised of calcium, carbon and oxygen.

Unfortunately, well water tests do not include numbers for KH.  Ph is typically the measure of importance for a home. But from this we can make some assumptions about KH.  Your water is slightly acidic, so it most likely has little to no KH (I'd take a guess of a KH of 1 or less, but I could be wrong). 

In my experience, I find the API GH/KH drop kits, and the Sera GH test kit, to be fairly accurate when compared to professional testing. Using either of these should give you decent understanding of your GH and KH.

In general, your water sounds perfect for South American fish!  But maybe boost the GH a tad if you also want live plants.

I am partial to using Equilibrium as a GH/mineral additive, but it will cloud your water a little bit for about a day after dosing.

Edited October 22, 2023 by tolstoy21

[RedwoodLion]

Thank you everyone, this is all very helpful! Especially the explanation from tolstoy21. I love keeping cories and bristlenose in my tanks but mostly I keep live bearers and anabantoids. Maybe I'll do some reading on apistos or rams, could be fun in the future. The gouramis at least should do well enough without too much extra chemistry work, they seem to tolerate anything I through at them lol.