Increasing Gh

[kenneth_kpe]

well ive been told by a fellow planted tank hobbyist here that the local water has a relatively low GH and almost zero KH.... the low KH i have always known and that is why i add baking soda every water change to my tank... the GH however i have no idea on how to raise it... any of you guys know ways of increasing GH ?? is this achievable by adding epsom salts ??

i hve linked a page here but its not helping much.. what is calcium carbonate ?

 

[The-Wolf]

to raise your gH you could add limestone to the aquarium (this will also increase kH which in turn will increase pH) or you could add CaCO2 (calcium carbonate) which will raise bith gH and kH.

 

[zig]

Depends on how low the Gh is, if the gh and kh are over 3 you should be fine and dont need any additives.

If the gh is under 3 you need to provide calcuim and magnesium, the calcuim can be provided by calcuim carbonate (Greg Watson sells it) and magnesium by epsom salts (any drugstore will sell this....its cheap)

If you use calcuim carbonate this will raise the gh and kh but you will still need to supply magnesium in the form of epsom salts.

Another alternative to calcuim carbonate is calcuim chloride, Greg Watson also sells this, and its probably a better alternative to calcuim carbonate as it dissolves a lot easier than calcuim carbonate which i believe is very difficult to dissolve, but either will do if you can source them locally.

If you dont have a testkit id go to your lfs and see will they will do a test for you, ideally you want them both over 3 if you use co2.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

i think i should get a GH test kit, i dont think its that expensive hmmm would a tank with low GH pose a problem ? you know algae ??? i have all things in check and somehow with my nano tank there is still a problem with algae

 

[zig]

i think i should get a GH test kit, i dont think its that expensive hmmm would a tank with low GH pose a problem ? you know algae ??? i have all things in check and somehow with my nano tank there is still a problem with algae

If the Gh is below 3 the water will lack calcuim and magnesium and as these are nutrients plants need..........................algae may be an issue as the plants will eventually suffer deficiencys.

But i dont have personal experience of this my Gh is above 3, but i believe this is the case.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hmm i think im slowly narrowing down the problems with my tank.. i hope this is the last one