Does This K Stand For Krypton?

[Beemeeup]

is there a post or link where all the tecnical abbreviations are described - what is GH what is KH etc.

i think i could understand many posts if i understood these abbreviations

any guidance please?

 

[voo]

KH is carbonate hardness.

GH is general hardness ? Not sure on that.

 

[dthoffsett]

You are 100% correct voo.

 

[Glimmer]

So if I am reading about fish and it says the KH that a fish can live in is 10-15, then are they talking about alkalinity and not general hardness?

If that is the case, then what fish could i keep with my tap water paramaters being:

Nitrite and Nitrate=0
KH = 80 ppm=4.5 dkh? i am guessing
GH = 150ppm= 8.4 dgh
PH = 7.8-8.4 (leaning more toward 8.4)


I don't really want to monkey around with my water too much so I am trying to figure out what fish would go with my tap water.

 

[voo]

Just making sure, but when you said tap water, you do treat it with dechlorinator right?

When you add fish to the tank, your water parameters will change. Most tropical fish will get used to the water you have, especially if you are buying them locally where they will be using the same tap water.

The only fish you'd need to look out for are discus (which are very picky about their water), and those that like lower Ph.

What kind of fish are you looking at getting?

 

[scubadoo]

So if I am reading about fish and it says the KH that a fish can live in is 10-15, then are they talking about alkalinity and not general hardness?

No - acidity and alkalinity are measured on the pH scale (between 0 - very acidic / 14 very alkaline)
Most fish will be in the 6-8 area ie slightly acidic or alkiline from neutral which is pH7.

One thing to note though is that the pH scale is logarithmic, so a pH of 6 is 10 times more acidic than a pH of 7.

As voo said, unless you plan to keep certain fish which really do require specific pH condiitions, then in general you should be ok with most community fish - more so if you buy them from a local LFS since they will have been acclimatised to your local water.

 

[CFC]

Actually alkalinity and how alkaline the pH of the water is have nothing to do with each other.

Alkalinity (KH) is a measure of calcium bicarbonate in the water, this will effect the stabiltyof your water as it is the measure of the waters buffering capacity, high alkalinity=high buffering capacity and stable pH, low alkalinity=low buffering capacity and unstable pH which will require some kind of buffer to be added to stop the water from becoming too acidic as organic acids are released into the aquarium from the nitrogen cycle and the calcium bicarbonate is used up.

The pH scale measures the levels of Hydrogen and Hydroxide ions in the water, a greater concentration of Hydrogen ions gives acidic water (pH range 1-6) a greater concentration of Hydroxide ions give alkeline water (pH scale 8-14), if both ions are present in equal amounts the water is neutral (pH 7).

 

[dthoffsett]

So if I am reading about fish and it says the KH that a fish can live in is 10-15, then are they talking about alkalinity and not general hardness?

If that is the case, then what fish could i keep with my tap water paramaters being:

Nitrite and Nitrate=0
KH = 80 ppm=4.5 dkh? i am guessing
GH = 150ppm= 8.4 dgh
PH = 7.8-8.4 (leaning more toward 8.4)


I don't really want to monkey around with my water too much so I am trying to figure out what fish would go with my tap water.

If you are wanting something other than your standard community fish, and if you have a tank of 55gal or larger, your water would be perfect for African Cichlids.

However, as the others have stated, you can still have most community fish with hard water. My tap water params are about the same as yours, and chk out my sig. I currently keep all the fish listed, and with no problems. I even ordered the X-ray tetras (P. riddlei). So, your water isn't too limiting.