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kH or no kH that is the question....?

dw1305 said:
Hi all,

Do you know <"Peter Clarke?> He owns "Apisto Aquatics" in Chesterfield. He would be the ideal person to talk to.

You can find him on the <"UK Apistogramma keeper/breeders"> facebook page.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

Joined last week. I now also have the app, so will defo be making use of his resources when it comes to stocking the tank! However, since I had 27 tanks going at once when breeding the Apisto's, the wife has declared that I can only have one tank this time! ;) I have been itching to breed them again though!

Cheers
G!
 
It'll be just fine, especially if you are interested in more finicky species down the road. my tank is at 2 right now and I'll get it to 0 in the next few weeks. Low/fluctuating ph has never been an issue I suspect lots of fish in the wild go through this. I know someone at 4.3 or so ph with no issues. as long as you don't choose hard-water species of fish (livebearers) you'll be fine.
 
Gadget said:
So as my new tank cycles, having added Tropica Substrate and Aquarium soil, I expected that I would have to keep an eye on the kH and gH for the first while. However, when testing with the Aquarium Labs dropper test set, my gH shows at 6 (which is in the correct range for the type of fish I am looking to keep), but the kH shows as not existing, as in 1 drop turns the yellow to blue. So I thought wow, this Tropica has really taken a hit on the water... My pH tested at 6, but after looking at the kH reading, I am concerned it could be lower, as 6 is the lowest the test goes....

I had not tested the kH on the tap water before for one reason or another, so decided I would test that to see just how much it had dropped... That also reacted in exactly the same way.....

So it appears the local tap water has no kH whatsoever. I figure I need to use a buffer, but can anyone tell me which they recommend the most? Have seen this one....

View attachment 168091

But don't know anything about this company? It seems a fair bit cheaper than Seachem (which just about anything else is), but is it decent? Any other recommendations? I want to keep Amizonian type fish, so Tetra and APistogramma for the best part, so low pH is not too much an issue, but would like to stabilise it around 6.6 to 6.8.

Cheers
G!
Click to expand...
If you haven't already decided which KH Booster you are going to use, I can highly recommend this one. Available from any Maidenhead Aquatics store. Absolutely brilliant.

Close the thread.
www.olibetta.uk

KH Booster 1000g

For the perfect carbonate hardness. Price: £7.65. Sizes: 250g - 1000g. 9 Customer Reviews. Delivery in 5 days.
www.olibetta.uk www.olibetta.uk

Screenshot_20210508-212636_Chrome.jpg
 
REDSTEVEO said:
If you haven't already decided which KH Booster you are going to use, I can highly recommend this one. Available from any Maidenhead Aquatics store. Absolutely brilliant.

Close the thread.
www.olibetta.uk

KH Booster 1000g

For the perfect carbonate hardness. Price: £7.65. Sizes: 250g - 1000g. 9 Customer Reviews. Delivery in 5 days.
www.olibetta.uk www.olibetta.uk

View attachment 168405
Click to expand...


Though not an expensive product per se, it’s still over twice the price over buying the basic salts the product comprises:

Amazon product ASIN B07663RH9N
Or this one:

Amazon product ASIN B00AV9QZKO
 
Gadget said:
Thanks for the reply. I have already ordered the Potassium salt that was recommended. Is there a reason you've asked me to close the thread? Bit confused?

Regards
G!
Click to expand...
Just my warped sense of humour. :wacky::wacky::joyful::joyful: Meaning that once the solution to the problem has been solved, then no need for further discussion.
 
So the Pott Carb arrived yesterday... Did a 75L water change today with on level TS of it in, and I am now registering a kH (just), so happy now. Thanks everyone for the assistance!

Regards
G!
 
If you want to read fractional kh from your test, then just use 4x as much water and count each drop as 0.25 degrees kh.
 
Gadget said:
So as my new tank cycles, having added Tropica Substrate and Aquarium soil, I expected that I would have to keep an eye on the kH and gH for the first while. However, when testing with the Aquarium Labs dropper test set, my gH shows at 6 (which is in the correct range for the type of fish I am looking to keep), but the kH shows as not existing, as in 1 drop turns the yellow to blue. So I thought wow, this Tropica has really taken a hit on the water... My pH tested at 6, but after looking at the kH reading, I am concerned it could be lower, as 6 is the lowest the test goes....

I had not tested the kH on the tap water before for one reason or another, so decided I would test that to see just how much it had dropped... That also reacted in exactly the same way.....

So it appears the local tap water has no kH whatsoever. I figure I need to use a buffer, but can anyone tell me which they recommend the most? Have seen this one....

View attachment 168091

But don't know anything about this company? It seems a fair bit cheaper than Seachem (which just about anything else is), but is it decent? Any other recommendations? I want to keep Amizonian type fish, so Tetra and APistogramma for the best part, so low pH is not too much an issue, but would like to stabilise it around 6.6 to 6.8.

Cheers
G!
Click to expand...
Don't bother with KH! The pH will swing without it, yes, but fish are completely unaffected- pH swings and a low KH are sometimes symptoms of another issue, like old tank syndrome. That's why amongst fishkeepers the advice has always been to have some carbonates in the water. A number of us on here have 0 KH. It is absolutely fine!
 
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