# general hardness



## dopper3 (Sep 5, 2004)

i just planted my tank about a week ago, noticed that plants have been losing quite a bit of there leafs, i think it's cuz my water is to soft, tested it the the general hardness (GH) was 30 and carbonate hardness (KH) was 60. i bought some water hardner tonight to bring it up, the bottle said that it would not affect my ph, currently my ph is 6.5 is that good ? from what i have read it seems that that is good,

any input is greatly appreciated


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

My KH and GH are both under 80 ppm also. I have very soft well water. An extreme suggestion would be to change your substrate to crushed coral. That would solve all your problems. Otherwise if you want to just increase PH a tablespoon of Arm & Hammer baking soda pre-dissolved should do. Retest PH before adding anymore. If you want to increase all params (PH. GH, KH) then crushed coral will do the trick. If you don't want to change the substrate try filling a large nylon bag with crushed coral and pre-rinse before placing in tank or filter...The GH and KH should be above 80 and below 200 for optimal conditions. ...Good luck


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