GH 340ppm / KH 250 ppm PH 7

[ADelphi]

I put this post in beginers but thought i'd also post here as it may be more relevent.

Well i did test last night nitrite is 0 ppm and ammonia is also 0 ppm. GH 340 ppm, KH 250 ppm and a PH 7. I have read here -> http/faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html

The confusion for me is my internal permanent jbl test reads different to my external kit tests, which are hagen. The in tank permanent reads PH 6.4 and KH 4 - 8. Would the use of Sterazin have an affect on a in tank permanent tester. Also my co2 has to been run in for 48 hours, so i'm not turning off at night. I will be in future turning off at night.

My cylinder c02 is 1 bubble every 10 seconds which i changed yesterday afternoon as it was 1 bubble every 3 seconds which maybe was a bit much as someone with a tank size of 55 gallons was using that and i only have a 28 uk gallon tank.

I also have an air stone running *cringe* I normally have that running more at night.

The fish look happy anyways even if i'm slightly confused.


Any opinions please on what you think maybe going on.

 

[zig]

Hi ADelphi

mmmm....its hard to know, test kits do lie (obviously in this case) and are not very reliable, if you measure the Ph of your tapwater, and then measure the tankwater, the Ph in the tankwater should be lower, probably somewhere around 6.2 or 6.4 because you are injecting the co2, thats taking for granted that the ph kit is ok and your tapwater is ph 7.

Perhaps someone else might have a better idea based on your tank size and the bubble count.

What is the Ph and Kh of your tapwater normally just for anyone else reading this.

 

[ADelphi]

PH from my tap water is 6.5. KH from my tap water is 210 ppm.

I just tested my tank PH again from a liquid test and it is 7.

I do add 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon to my tank.

Its the JBL permanent in tank test that is reading totally different.

My last water change was wednesday 17th Aug.



Well it looks like i'm raising my PH and my KH within my tank, so does this mean i have to much oxygen and not enough CO2. -> http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=59467

Some ways to raise pH.
Aerate the water, driving off the carbon dioxide (CO²)
Some ways to raise kH.
Aerate the water, driving off the carbon dioxide (CO²)

My JBL in tank test kit is lying to me as it reads ph 6.4 and kh in the danger zone, i now have had no c02 running for 5 hours.

 

[zig]

PH from my tap water is 6.5. KH from my tap water is 210 ppm.

I just tested my tank PH again from a liquid test and it is 7.

I do add 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon to my tank.

Its the JBL permanent in tank test that is reading totally different.

My last water change was wednesday 17th Aug.

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Well something is up

with a ph of 6.5 and kh of 210ppm you have 112ppm of co2 in your tapwater

Something isnt right are you sure you gave me the right figures, and what is sterazin, is this the salts you are dosing? and what is it used for i have never heard of it.

The Jbl kit is probably correct it would give you approx 36ppm a nice level of co2.

 

[ADelphi]

sterazin ---> http/www.waterlife.co.uk/waterlife/sterazin.htm

It can't be right the in tank test as i've had an air stone running all day.



http/www.floridadriftwood.com/page.asp?id=16

http/www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/gh_kh_conv_cal.cfm

So my kh 250 ppm = 5.00 mEq/l with a ph of 7 = c02 of 15 ppm which is good.

My tap water phosphate is 2.5 mg/l which is quite high.

My tanks phosphate is 1.0 mg/l it is normally lower than this 0.5 mg/l but then i've taken out the phosphate/nitrite/nitrate removers from my filters as i'm doing a treatment of sterazin and that recommends removing them.

There are some parts of the country that have high levels of phosphates in their water supply. For those cases, determining CO2 levels will be difficult, as the phosphate will throw off the pH-KH-CO2 relationship, which means the CO2 charts and calculator below won't work. Note that the commercially available CO2 test kits will also be invalidated by the phosphates.

 

[zig]

sterazin ---> http/www.waterlife.co.uk/waterlife/sterazin.htm

It can't be right the in tank test as i've had an air stone running all day.

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Ok im getting confused here

And yes running the airstone is probably putting the readings out of kilter, switch everything off, turn off the airstone, turn off the co2 and your lights for the night, and in the morning before you do anything do the readings again in the tank, and then 1 hour before you switch on your lights switch on the co2, then i hour later switch on your lights, leave it for another hour and do the readings again, so 2 hours between each reading, and your co2 will have been on for 2 hours at this stage and unlikely to do any harm to your fish, if the readings are still off the wall and dont look normal switch everything off again, you may have to buy new test kits.

But dont run the airstone when you do this or you wont get proper readings, and post here in the morning and let us know how you got on, and make sure to switch on the co2 1 hour before the lights to let it build up to get a correct reading.

 

[ADelphi]

Your pH out of the tap probably has lot of dissolved CO2 in it that temporarily lowers the pH. Try allowing the tap water to sit in an open bowl over night and see if the pH doesn't rise

Thats why my ph is lower out of the tap because my tap water contains plenty of co2.

 

[zig]

So my kh 250 ppm = 5.00 mEq/l with a ph of 7 = c02 of 15 ppm which is good.

with a KH of 250ppm and PH of 7 = 42ppm co2

Co2 calculator

With the Hagen test kit you multiply the ppm by 0.056 to get the dh. degree this is the one we are interested in to obtain the correct KH reading.

Phosphate in tapwater of 2.5ppm is not unusually high, in order to throw off most test kits, readings of 5ppm and above will generally apply.

 

[ADelphi]

Waves to zig

Well i think i know what is going on, my other test kits are made by yamitsu and the ph range is 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5 and so on and the colours are so close between 7 and 7.5, i wouldn't be suprised if my ph was actually closer to 7.5 then 7. My tap water after standing for 24 hours is the same as my tank water.

I know my dh is 14.000 which of course would then give me a high reading for co2 if my ph was really 7.

so if my ph is 7.4 my co2 would be 16.721 ppm which is fine as they say it needs to be no more than 25 ppm.

I've redone my permanent jbl ph/co2 in tank tester, i'll see what it reads tomorrow, but i don't trust it as it was way off before. haha it says i have no co2 in my tank at all now

Well fish look fine and so do all the plants, so i'm sure something must be right.