I checked. My household water supply (artisian well w/ water softener) has a
Ph of 8 and the Kh measures 8º right out of the tap.

When I test my aquarium water the Ph is about 7.4 or 7.5 and the Kh is over
12º. I can't tell the exact degree because the vial turns the same colour
as the test fluid.

I have no limestone in my tank, just coated aquarium gravel out of a bag and
ceramic bio rings in the filter.

Will peat discolour my water? Do I buy it at a garden center and stuff it in
a media bag and put it in my cannister filter? WILL bisodium phosphate
cause my algae to boom? Should I find a new hobby?

My plants are mostly thriving and my fish appear healthy. It's just that the
algae is slowly gaining ground...

Thanks all.

Iain Miller wrote in message
...

"snark@boojum" wrote in message
...
The PH and CO2 affect the KH. If you test your tap water you will
probably
find that the KH is lower than it is in your tank.

Recommendation: Lower PH and see what effect that has on the KH and FE.
Go
ahead and reduce period of lighting to 11 hours and keep thermostat as
low
as you can without hurting the fish.

Can anyone comment on adding Bisodium Phosphate to a tank with an
established algae problem?

CO2 does NOT affect KH.

There is a direct relationship between CO2, Ph & KH

If you add CO2 the PH will drop - the KH will stay constant

If you take it away, the reverse happens

Things that affect KH are things like limestone in the tank which will
raise
it (and with it the Ph at a given CO2 level.

Over time KH will gradually decrease as the buffer gets eaten up (all
other
things being equal)....this will mean that your PH will gradually fall
with
it at a given level of CO2. When KH gets to 0 then PH will crash. At KH
levels of below 2gDh KH becomes much less stable.

KH is much harder to move than either PH or CO2 levels. As above, add CO2
&
PH drops quite quickly - KH won't move.

Raise KH by having some source of calcium in the tank, lower it by
filtering
through peat.

HTH

I.