# KH and GH REALLY HIGH!!



## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

My KH is really hight and my GH is off the charts....how to fix it? i did water change but i ono if that's helping.......=\


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

What do you consider "very high".

Gives us the parameters of your water thats in your tank, (pH, KH, GH etc), and also the water that comes from your tap (before you put it in your tank)

If your tapwater is high pH/hardness, a water change will do nothing to lower your tank.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

doctorvtec said:


> What do you consider "very high".
> 
> Gives us the parameters of your water thats in your tank, (pH, KH, GH etc), and also the water that comes from your tap (before you put it in your tank)
> 
> ...


well i lost the chart that tells you, i got those inaccurate chemicals where you gotta put the drops, llets just say that i know it's really high cuz my ph is 7.8, the GH is extremelty high, because it's off the charts. literally! it goes up to 12 drops and i had to put 14. damnit i think someone threw it out, all i need to know is how to lower the KH and GH. water changes, i do that all the time so i know my water is very hard.


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

theanimedude said:


> doctorvtec said:
> 
> 
> > What do you consider "very high".
> ...


De-Ionised or Reverse Osmosis water is your solution....


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

husky_jim said:


> theanimedude said:
> 
> 
> > doctorvtec said:
> ...


Yea but then he will lose all of his buffering capacity, not a good idea. And for a novice, doing a mic of R.O. water and tapwater is not the best idea.

Honestly, 7.8 is not THAT bad. Yea, it's not ideal.. BUT I would rather see you have a steady pH that is a bit high then a pH that is fluctuating, that will stress your fish more then the pH issue.

Do you have fish now? How long have you had them? Are they healthy?

If you have had them for awhile and they are healthy, why mess with it?

If you are hell bent on lowering your hardness, you could try using peat. But again, if the fish are healthy, let it go.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

I use black wataer extract, and then i use malaysian driftwood, still 7.8. i've had that fish for about 4 weeks so far and i've also had my RBP for alil more than half a year. he's not eating well.....i was a novice when i 1st got him so all he ate was gold fishes til i learned bout that thiamese crap. so i've finally traind him to eat talipia and beef heart, more talipia though and less of the beef heart. He doesnt seem to be eating right for some reason...and i think it's cuz of the PH or the hardness. I see all that white stuff on the wall of my fish tank...so i know it's kinda hard....


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

theanimedude said:


> I use black wataer extract, and then i use malaysian driftwood, still 7.8. i've had that fish for about 4 weeks so far and i've also had my RBP for alil more than half a year. he's not eating well.....i was a novice when i 1st got him so all he ate was gold fishes til i learned bout that thiamese crap. so i've finally traind him to eat talipia and beef heart, more talipia though and less of the beef heart. He doesnt seem to be eating right for some reason...and i think it's cuz of the PH or the hardness. I see all that white stuff on the wall of my fish tank...so i know it's kinda hard....
> [snapback]1086887[/snapback]​


Honestly I cannot see 7.8 causing a problem of the fish not eating. I've seen healthy P's personally at 8.0. What are the rest of your water parameters?


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

doctorvtec said:


> theanimedude said:
> 
> 
> > I use black wataer extract, and then i use malaysian driftwood, still 7.8. i've had that fish for about 4 weeks so far and i've also had my RBP for alil more than half a year. he's not eating well.....i was a novice when i 1st got him so all he ate was gold fishes til i learned bout that thiamese crap. so i've finally traind him to eat talipia and beef heart, more talipia though and less of the beef heart. He doesnt seem to be eating right for some reason...and i think it's cuz of the PH or the hardness. I see all that white stuff on the wall of my fish tank...so i know it's kinda hard....
> ...


well i checked it yesterday and so far, everything is alrite, ammonia is 0.25 and the nitrate is less than .30 (hard to distinguish red from brighter red) and for the nitrite, it's 0.00 so. i guess he's still scard sine he's only 1.5 inches.....


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

You should work on getting that ammonia level down to an undecteable level. At your pH, with that much ammonia, that may be your problem.


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## FrankP (Apr 25, 2004)

Peat worked fine for me only the brown-coloured water started to irritate me and now I use tetra pH/KH minus and it works great. It soften the water and lowering the pH as well. But regular water checks must be done weekly.


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## serrasalmus_collector (Mar 9, 2003)

I have a similar test kit that works off of adding drops. The Kh turns Yellow, and the Gh turns green on my particular kit. I would recommend thoroughly rinsing the vials before and after testing. The hardness test chemicals and PH test chemicals will react with each other giving a very false reading. Rinse the vials very good, and test again. 14 drops is somewhat uncommon water hardness, unless you have well water; but, I don't know what kit you are using

Once you give a thorough rinsing I would test your tap. Record the measurements and test your tank 24 hours later. Gravel, shells, and many things inside your tank can make the hardness dramatically increase. If your hardness is noticeably higher in the tank, we will need to look into your aquascaping.

PS. Be sure you rinse both the vial and the top very well with tap and re-test. This is a common mistake that many hobbyists have made testing water parameters. It's almost best to have a separate vial labeled for each individual test; this guarantees no lingering chemicals from other tests. If you kit is the same as mine, you may want to be sure you have a good white background viewing the GH test. The changes to green are very subtle, and can be easily mis-read.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

> BUT I would rather see you have a steady pH that is a bit high then a pH that is fluctuating, that will stress your fish more then the pH issue.


And hard water isn't necessarily a problem. Need actual numbers...


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## DonD (Mar 11, 2004)

I agree with doc. At a pH of 7.8 an ammonia level of .25 is going to be a lot more toxic. Not that that level is good even at lower pH. THAT is your issue IMO, the ammonia.
Actual numbers would help the discussion of your waters hardness a whole lot. If it is 15dKH or more, peat wouldnt help a whole lot except in large quantities. 
I have to disagree with doc here however. I do not believe it is too difficult for someone just beginning to adjust water parameters. Provided they do the same thing every time they do a water change. Running half the water for a refill on a water change through a DI unit then finishing with straight tap is not a big deal IMO. Thats just an example BTW, NOT a recommendation without knowing the hardness.
Anyway, get the ammonia under control. Do frequent water changes until it has dropped. I would suggest every other day, about 20%. You also need to figure out just why your ammonia is that high. A properly functioning tank should not have a level that high unless the fish were accidently overfed or the like. A crash of the bio filter is the other likely culprit.


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