Mikon77 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) Hello! I made a post a few weeks back about the hardness of my water and decided to buy an RO system to help cut it. I finally got a liquid gh/kh test kit to measure the tap water and it took 40 drops to get a result for the gh!!! I also got a TDS meter and it was showing 783ppm!! So this morning I tested a 50/50 (tap/RO) mix and a 25/75 mix and I’m not sure which if either to go with. The results for the 50/50 were ph: 8 / Ammonia: 1 / gh: 19 / kh: 5 / 430ppm The results for the 25/75 were ph: 8 / Ammonia: 0.5 / gh: 9 / kh: 3 / 230ppm I’m really not sure which to go with. I thought it was really weird that the Ph remained exactly the same. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I plan on keeping 1 gourami (either a dwarf or honey) 10 Harlequin Rasboras (or other type of Rasboras, or maybe a type of tetra), and 5 panda corys. Edited March 24 by Mikon77 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 The second seems to be much better. More of a neutral water. That opens up more options for you. I’d be curious, what happens if you let your water rest for 12 hours to 24 hours what would happen to your ph. Kh of 3 should have a lower ph, giving it a rest might move the value somewhat. And that’s what your tank would stabilize at. great job doing it this way, should make things much easier than adding supplements. And now you know what ratios gives you what parameters. So now you can do anything from discus to African cichlids. A tank full of shell dwellers would be amazing 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikon77 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 On 3/24/2024 at 9:26 AM, Tony s said: The second seems to be much better. More of a neutral water. That opens up more options for you. I’d be curious, what happens if you let your water rest for 12 hours to 24 hours what would happen to your ph. Kh of 3 should have a lower ph, giving it a rest might move the value somewhat. And that’s what your tank would stabilize at. great job doing it this way, should make things much easier than adding supplements. And now you know what ratios gives you what parameters. So now you can do anything from discus to African cichlids. A tank full of shell dwellers would be amazing 🤣 GREAT! I’m planning on filling it tonight and starting the cycle! It didn’t even cross my mind to leave a glass out. I’ll set one out now and test again tonight. Ya I’m glad I went the RO route because like you said, I now have more options! Now I just need to see how much those parameters change after adding some driftwood, plants, as well as lava rock and dragon stone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I’d go with a ratio that brings GH down to 4 or 5 degrees, ignore KH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikon77 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 On 3/24/2024 at 11:28 AM, Mmiller2001 said: I’d go with a ratio that brings GH down to 4 or 5 degrees, ignore KH. Wouldn’t a low Kh be bad though? I heard a low Kh would cause ph swings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) On 3/24/2024 at 10:56 AM, Mikon77 said: Wouldn’t a low Kh be bad though? I heard a low Kh would cause ph swings. It doesn’t and pH swing doesn’t harm fish. Here’s my daily pH. Heres my tank as well. Edited March 24 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 On 3/24/2024 at 12:56 PM, Mikon77 said: Wouldn’t a low Kh be bad though? I heard a low Kh would cause ph swings Ph swings don’t harm plants at all. And low kh means nothing to plants. Fish species can be very susceptible to ph swings. Depending on the species. A kh from 2-6 is a good number to keep ph from swinging. You have to decide whether you want a lot of beautiful plants. Or a lot of beautiful fish. A mostly maxed out tank will need the buffered ph 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikon77 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 On 3/24/2024 at 1:43 PM, Tony s said: Ph swings don’t harm plants at all. And low kh means nothing to plants. Fish species can be very susceptible to ph swings. Depending on the species. A kh from 2-6 is a good number to keep ph from swinging. You have to decide whether you want a lot of beautiful plants. Or a lot of beautiful fish. A mostly maxed out tank will need the buffered ph I definitely want what’s best for my fish. I don’t want to risk ph swings harming them. I’ll be sticking with the 25/75 ratio. I think that is a pretty good starting point! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 And I didn’t want to imply that you couldn’t grow plants in high ph gh kh water, you absolutely can. Depending on the type.. and where they were grown. Most plants actually like hard water to a certain extent. And there is a YouTuber that grows plants in Tennessee. Where they have hard water and his plants are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) On 3/24/2024 at 1:04 PM, Mikon77 said: I definitely want what’s best for my fish. I don’t want to risk ph swings harming them Again, pH swing does not harm fish. This is a wives tale. If GH and KH are stable (0dKH is stable), and the fish are in the appropriate/stable parameters, then pH is irrelevant. This wives tale is continually passed on by those who only read and regurgitate old and outdate knowledge. Let me know if you see dying or stressed fish here. Edited March 24 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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