GH / KH / PH?

[TamarackTTC]

Hi Everyone, I'm getting closer and closer to getting my tank set up and I'm trying to head your advice to know as much as possible about my water conditions before I actually put plants and fish in and get it running. You guys are the first place I go when I need honest and truthful answers because of your experience. I can't seem to wrap my head around the Gh / Kh / and PH aspects of water condition, so here I am requesting your expertise.

I found this document made available by my City and I believe it answers the questions of what is my water GH / KH and PH, but I don't know what categories to find the information and then furthermore what to do with the information once I get it. I'm thinking to myself that once I know the conditions I can then choose the plants and fish that are best suited for my water conditions, but is there more to it?

Attached is the document and the well that supplies my water is the "ARTESIAN WELL" column at the far right of the document.

Thanks so much ya'll are awesome!!!

 

[Byron]

I'm thinking to myself that once I know the conditions I can then choose the plants and fish that are best suited for my water conditions, but is there more to it?

Yes, this is the basic idea. Plants will be much less problematic (with one or two exceptions), but for fish this is critical. Now to the numbers in your chart.

Alkalinity at the top is the carbonate hardness, which we express as KH (from the German karbon which = carbon). The unit here is mg/l, which is the same as ppm (parts per million) which is one of the two most frequent units in the hobby (the other is degrees, and you can convert back and forth with 17.9, multiplying degrees by 17.9 to get the ppm, or dividing ppm by 17.9 to get the degrees. So 83 ppm KH is the same as 4.6 dKH. This is OK. KH serves to "buffer" the pH, preventing fluctuations; this is a relatively low KH so over time the organic decomposition natural in any fish tank will likely lower the pH, also not a problem because of what follows.

The fourth line down in the chart is Hardness, this is the GH. GH is primarily calcium and magnesium. The mg/l here is the same as I explained above. So you have a GH of 72.1 ppm, equating to 4 dGH. This is soft water.

The pH is not included, but a good aquarium test kit (which you should have, pH is worth testing periodically) will do for this. Many of us here use the API liquid pH kit; you want the normal range, not the high range, for your soft water.

The GH and KH will not alter much, with regular weekly partial water changes. The ph may lower once the tank is biologically established.

You want to look into soft water fish species. Forget harder water species such as all the livebearers, rift lake cichlids, and some others. Most fish from South America and South and SE Asia are soft water species, and with your water you should have no issues with any of them.

Your plants will also benefit from the calcium and magnesium in your water, it is just enough for most (in a low-tech or natural method planted tank).

 

[TamarackTTC]

Yes, this is the basic idea. Plants will be much less problematic (with one or two exceptions), but for fish this is critical. Now to the numbers in your chart.

Alkalinity at the top is the carbonate hardness, which we express as KH (from the German karbon which = carbon). The unit here is mg/l, which is the same as ppm (parts per million) which is one of the two most frequent units in the hobby (the other is degrees, and you can convert back and forth with 17.9, multiplying degrees by 17.9 to get the ppm, or dividing ppm by 17.9 to get the degrees. So 83 ppm KH is the same as 4.6 dKH. This is OK. KH serves to "buffer" the pH, preventing fluctuations; this is a relatively low KH so over time the organic decomposition natural in any fish tank will likely lower the pH, also not a problem because of what follows.

The fourth line down in the chart is Hardness, this is the GH. GH is primarily calcium and magnesium. The mg/l here is the same as I explained above. So you have a GH of 72.1 ppm, equating to 4 dGH. This is soft water.

The pH is not included, but a good aquarium test kit (which you should have, pH is worth testing periodically) will do for this. Many of us here use the API liquid pH kit; you want the normal range, not the high range, for your soft water.

The GH and KH will not alter much, with regular weekly partial water changes. The ph may lower once the tank is biologically established.

You want to look into soft water fish species. Forget harder water species such as all the livebearers, rift lake cichlids, and some others. Most fish from South America and South and SE Asia are soft water species, and with your water you should have no issues with any of them.

Your plants will also benefit from the calcium and magnesium in your water, it is just enough for most (in a low-tech or natural method planted tank).

Alright! Alright! Thanks for breaking it down my brother. It makes perfect sense to me now.

I'm shooting for a SA theme, with maybe some others (fish & plants) mixed in, so basically a community tank. Therefore, I'm thankful all of these numbers check out. It's nice that my city provides this info. Also I just ordered the API Freshwater Test Kit so testing for ph shouldn't be a problem.

Ok my confidence is climbing! Thanks again bro!!!