Hey - Wondering if you guys can help me here. I've got REALLY soft tap
water, so soft I can't get any reading at all on my GH/KH test kits. Now
that I'm starting to do some CO2 injection to try to get my plants growing
fast enough all my clown loaches won't eat them before they die, my pH is
droping a little to far for my liking. What I'd like to do is find some way
of increasing my KH (CaCO3) so I can balance out the low pH caused by the
CO2. Any ideas?
Mark

On Thu, 12 Dec 2002 05:15:11 GMT, "Mentaloid"
wrote:

Hey - Wondering if you guys can help me here. I've got REALLY soft tap
water, so soft I can't get any reading at all on my GH/KH test kits. Now
that I'm starting to do some CO2 injection to try to get my plants growing
fast enough all my clown loaches won't eat them before they die, my pH is
droping a little to far for my liking. What I'd like to do is find some way
of increasing my KH (CaCO3) so I can balance out the low pH caused by the
CO2. Any ideas?
Mark



Quick way is to add baking soda a little bit at a time. You did not
give us a tank size so it's hard to tell you how much to add. This
topic has been discussed at the AquaBotanic forums. Also you can use
Calcium Carbonate to raise the kH. Both these methods work fast. The
slow way is to put some crushed coral in a filter bag and place it in
your filter. Don't use a lot though. Maybe a few tablespoons.

Hmm - good point. Tank size is 90 gallons, a 30 gallon, and a 10 gallon with
a 10 gallon sump. and in the past I've been using peat when I need to bring
the pH down, and crushed oyster shell when I need to bring it up - I know
about the baking soda bit, but I'm looking for a slow dissolve type
solution. the oyster shell doesn't seem to work very fast/effectivly though
as I have probably about 2 cups in there and it still doesn't affect my KH
all that much. What I'm really looking for is a source of raw CaCO3 - is it
available at some kind of store? Crushed coral I could try instead of the
oyster shell I suppose. I'll also check the forums at aquabotanic (I've
mostly been using thekrib.com for resources).
Thanks

"Cannibul" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Dec 2002 05:15:11 GMT, "Mentaloid"
wrote:

Hey - Wondering if you guys can help me here. I've got REALLY soft tap
water, so soft I can't get any reading at all on my GH/KH test kits. Now
that I'm starting to do some CO2 injection to try to get my plants
growing
fast enough all my clown loaches won't eat them before they die, my pH is
droping a little to far for my liking. What I'd like to do is find some
way
of increasing my KH (CaCO3) so I can balance out the low pH caused by the
CO2. Any ideas?
Mark



Quick way is to add baking soda a little bit at a time. You did not
give us a tank size so it's hard to tell you how much to add. This
topic has been discussed at the AquaBotanic forums. Also you can use
Calcium Carbonate to raise the kH. Both these methods work fast. The
slow way is to put some crushed coral in a filter bag and place it in
your filter. Don't use a lot though. Maybe a few tablespoons.

1 teaspoon of baking soda per 26 gallons will raise your KH by about 2
degrees KH. I would recommend you add enough to each tank to elevate KH to
about 4 degrees. Every time you change water, you should add an approriate
amount of baking soda to make the water a constant 4 degrees KH. Baking
soda is easy and efficient..

-Bruce Geist
Mentaloid wrote in message
...
Hmm - good point. Tank size is 90 gallons, a 30 gallon, and a 10 gallon
with
a 10 gallon sump. and in the past I've been using peat when I need to
bring
the pH down, and crushed oyster shell when I need to bring it up - I know
about the baking soda bit, but I'm looking for a slow dissolve type
solution. the oyster shell doesn't seem to work very fast/effectivly
though
as I have probably about 2 cups in there and it still doesn't affect my KH
all that much. What I'm really looking for is a source of raw CaCO3 - is
it
available at some kind of store? Crushed coral I could try instead of the
oyster shell I suppose. I'll also check the forums at aquabotanic (I've
mostly been using thekrib.com for resources).
Thanks

"Cannibul" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Dec 2002 05:15:11 GMT, "Mentaloid"
wrote:

Hey - Wondering if you guys can help me here. I've got REALLY soft tap
water, so soft I can't get any reading at all on my GH/KH test kits.
Now
that I'm starting to do some CO2 injection to try to get my plants
growing
fast enough all my clown loaches won't eat them before they die, my pH
is
droping a little to far for my liking. What I'd like to do is find some
way
of increasing my KH (CaCO3) so I can balance out the low pH caused by
the
CO2. Any ideas?
Mark



Quick way is to add baking soda a little bit at a time. You did not
give us a tank size so it's hard to tell you how much to add. This
topic has been discussed at the AquaBotanic forums. Also you can use
Calcium Carbonate to raise the kH. Both these methods work fast. The
slow way is to put some crushed coral in a filter bag and place it in
your filter. Don't use a lot though. Maybe a few tablespoons.