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Not ideal water parameters

jacopo16

New Member
Joined
16 Jul 2022
Messages
19
Location
London
Hello guys,
I need a bit of help.
Just finished to test my aquarium water and those were the results:
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 1 mg/l
KH 200ppm
GH 350ppm
Nitrate 40-80 mg/l
Iron 0

Now the questions..
1) Can high GH be the cause of BBA? Also should I get worried for KH and GH being so high?
2) nitrates seems to high, shall I do something about it?
3) iron 0 - I suspect this is the cause of my struggling with Alternanthera reineckii Rosanervig. I bought one off ebay to dissolve in RO water but it seems it isn’t doing his kob

Thank you in advance
 
Hi all,
Just finished to test my aquarium water and those were the results:
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 1 mg/l
KH 200ppm
GH 350ppm
Nitrate 40-80 mg/l
Iron 0
Those won't be accurate, but they are probably in the <"right ball-park">. So basically <"hard, alkaline">, nutrient rich water <"Some handy facts about water">. What does your water supplier say? They have an analytical lab., so will be able to give you more accurate results.

The reason I can say in the right ball-park are because you live in London and your water will have come from a chalk aquifer (even if it has sat in reservoir for a while, or come from the river Thames or Lea etc) and this means that it will have ~17dGH (nearly all calcium (Ca)) and 17 dKH (you can convert backwards and forwards using the Lenntech converter <"water-hardness">). The hardness and alkalinity values you've got aren't right, they are too high, but you will have about 120 ppm (mg/ L) Ca for geological reasons.

I know it isn't a possibility for every-one, but might rainwater be an option? Otherwise it is buying (or making) RO water, if you want softer water.
Can high GH be the cause of BBA? Also should I get worried for KH and GH being so high?
We don't really know <"what causes BBA">, it seems to occur in a lot of conditions, so I'm going to say high dGH isn't a major factor. Lots of plants and fish <"do well in hard water">, although some don't.
nitrates seems to high, shall I do something about it?
<"Lots of floating plants">? They are remarkably effective at <"reducing fixed nitrogen levels">.
Have a look at <"Pink tint">.

cheers Darrel
 
1) Can high GH be the cause of BBA? Also should I get worried for KH and GH being so high?
Most BBA issues are associated with imbalance - light vs. CO2 vs. nutrients. Poor CO2 distribution/application in particular if your injecting CO2. I don't think hard water by itself can be the cause - it may exacerbate the problem if the plants are already struggling due to a somewhat reduced ability to take up nutrients in hard water. It's definitely possible to keep a beautiful algae-free planted aquarium with hard water (lots of plants in the easy category will do fine), it may just take a bit more considerations in terms of fertilizer choices - in particular trace minerals and chelates. As for fish / livestock, very hard water (~17 GH/KH) is not ideal - lowering your hardness will improve the wellbeing of your livestock if they originate from soft water habitats.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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