How do I reduce a KH of 150mg/L to 80-100mg/L?

Current water parameters a

02-Jan 09-Jan 16-Jan 23-Jan
PH 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5
Ammonia 0 0 0 0
Nitrate 5 5 5 5
Nitrite 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Phosphate 3.5 3.5 0.25 0.15
GH 20 20 20 20
KH 140 140 150 150


TIA - Dave

---
Dave Scott
Hampshire, England

Beware spam trap when replying

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
How do I reduce a KH of 150mg/L to 80-100mg/L?

Use water filtered through peat or use RO water for your water
changes.Alternatively stuff some bogwood in the tank or peat granules in
your filter.

Before you do this, why do you want to do it? Unless you have specific fish
that require it (and most don't) I should leave well alone (!)

I.

"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
How do I reduce a KH of 150mg/L to 80-100mg/L?

Use water filtered through peat or use RO water for your water
changes.Alternatively stuff some bogwood in the tank or peat granules in
your filter.

Thanks for that!

Before you do this, why do you want to do it? Unless you have specific
fish that require it (and most don't) I should leave well alone (!)

I have a lot of algae on plant leaves, and as all the other water paremters
are OK, I'm trying to identify the reason.

Dave

The KH is certainly not the culprit for the algae. Reduce your light cycle
or start dosing CO2 and ferts, is this a planted tank?
What is your current light cycle?
Size of tank and ammount of light?
Fishload?
Water changing routine?
PH?

Answering all or some of these questions will lead to a better diagnosis of
whats happening in your tank.
--
"In the beginning, God said the four-dimensional divergence of an
antisymmetric,
second rank tensor equals zero, and there was Light , and it was good."


"Dave S" wrote in message
...

"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
How do I reduce a KH of 150mg/L to 80-100mg/L?

Use water filtered through peat or use RO water for your water
changes.Alternatively stuff some bogwood in the tank or peat granules in
your filter.

Thanks for that!

Before you do this, why do you want to do it? Unless you have specific
fish that require it (and most don't) I should leave well alone (!)

I have a lot of algae on plant leaves, and as all the other water
paremters
are OK, I'm trying to identify the reason.

Dave

"Dave S" wrote in message
...

"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
How do I reduce a KH of 150mg/L to 80-100mg/L?

Use water filtered through peat or use RO water for your water
changes.Alternatively stuff some bogwood in the tank or peat granules in
your filter.

Thanks for that!

Before you do this, why do you want to do it? Unless you have specific
fish that require it (and most don't) I should leave well alone (!)

I have a lot of algae on plant leaves, and as all the other water
paremters are OK, I'm trying to identify the reason.

Nothing to do with Kh....

Your Phosphate readings were high at the vbeginning of the month - you've
done something in the intervening period to reduce them. High phosphates are
a known cause of Algae. To get rid of Algae you need to get your plants
growing better - this will starve the algae out. To do that you need
nutrients, CO2 & good light. On the latter, when was the last time you
changed the bulbs? If they are over a year old then you need to replace
them. Start with those & add more plants. Suggest you test your iron levels
as well.

I.

"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

High phosphates are a known cause of Algae. To get rid of Algae you need
to get your plants
growing better - this will starve the algae out.

Iain, PO4 will not cause algae, neither will KH. Bad conditions for plants
is what causes algae. If you have good lights, co2 and are fertilising then
plants flourish, take away just one of the elements that they need (like
PO4) and you will get algae.

IMO, The OP needs to add some CO2 & NO3.
--
"In the beginning, God said the four-dimensional divergence of an
antisymmetric,
second rank tensor equals zero, and there was Light , and it was good."

Happy'Cam'per wrote:
"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

High phosphates are a known cause of Algae. To get rid of Algae you
need
to get your plants growing better - this will starve the algae out.

Iain, PO4 will not cause algae, neither will KH. Bad conditions for
plants
is what causes algae. If you have good lights, co2 and are
fertilising then
plants flourish, take away just one of the elements that they need
(like
PO4) and you will get algae.

IMO, The OP needs to add some CO2 & NO3.

I'll second the above regarding PO4. My plant tank is only about 2.5
months old, and save for some greenwater at the beginning and trace
amounts of green-spot algae now, the tank has been algae-free - and I
intentionally attain PO4 levels 2ppm! (My tapwater is ~3ppm in PO4)

People like Tom Barr, et al., dose plenty of PO4. If the rest of the
tank is in good shape, that doesn't present a problem.

I'll second the above with respect to KH, too, assuming no CO2
injection. Simply put, the only thing that affects, if one is not
using CO2, is the pH. And that's just not a big deal for algae.

KH can possibly matter if one *is* using CO2, though. Then, KH
determines [CO2] at a given pH - which pH one maintains with the
controller, etc. Since we know we want a given pH (for our fish) and a
given [CO2] (for our plants) when using CO2 injection all one has to do
is choose an appropriate KH. See the CO2/KH/pH charts. You probably
don't want to have lots of (even balanced) nutrients but insuffifient
CO2 - so KH must be monitored.

Still, I think it is fair to say that KH, per se, is not a concern of
the plants (including algae).


--Trapper

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...

The KH is certainly not the culprit for the algae. Reduce your light cycle
or start dosing CO2 and ferts, is this a planted tank?
I understand that KH is not the culprit for the algae. What I am trying to
do, is to get my water perameters right so that I can install my Christmas
present: a CO2 system :-) Yes, the tank is planted.
What is your current light cycle?
The current light cycle is 2 x 36w for 12 hours per day and a further 2 x
36w starting one hour after lights on and finsihing one hour before lights
out.
Size of tank and ammount of light?
Size: 400litre. However in terms of measuring the water capacity I deduct
20% for substrate and decoration etc. Therfore I calculate the capacity as
320litres.
Fishload?
1.5
Water changing routine?
Once per week @ 20%
PH?
7.5

Answering all or some of these questions will lead to a better diagnosis
of
whats happening in your tank.

--
"In the beginning, God said the four-dimensional divergence of an
antisymmetric,
second rank tensor equals zero, and there was Light , and it was good."


"Dave S" wrote in message
...

"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
How do I reduce a KH of 150mg/L to 80-100mg/L?

Use water filtered through peat or use RO water for your water
changes.Alternatively stuff some bogwood in the tank or peat granules
in
your filter.

Thanks for that!

Before you do this, why do you want to do it? Unless you have specific
fish that require it (and most don't) I should leave well alone (!)

I have a lot of algae on plant leaves, and as all the other water
paremters
are OK, I'm trying to identify the reason.

Dave

I'll second the above regarding PO4. My plant tank is only about 2.5
months old, and save for some greenwater at the beginning and trace
amounts of green-spot algae now, the tank has been algae-free - and I
intentionally attain PO4 levels 2ppm! (My tapwater is ~3ppm in PO4)

Hmm, I always understood that high PO4 was a contributor - especially for
BBA but I'll take your word for it!


I'll second the above with respect to KH, too, assuming no CO2
injection. Simply put, the only thing that affects, if one is not
using CO2, is the pH. And that's just not a big deal for algae.

True enough

KH can possibly matter if one *is* using CO2, though. Then, KH
determines [CO2] at a given pH

Kind of the wrong way round I think. Perhaps better put that at a given
level of Kh then Ph varies depending on the level of CO2 in the tank.


I.

Iain Miller wrote:
[snippety-snip]


KH can possibly matter if one *is* using CO2, though. Then, KH
determines [CO2] at a given pH

Kind of the wrong way round I think. Perhaps better put that at a
given
level of Kh then Ph varies depending on the level of CO2 in the tank.


I.


We know that KH, pH, and [CO2] are intimately related by this equation:
[CO2] = 3 * (KH) * 10 ^ (7-(pH))

I said that if KH and pH are constant, then [CO2] is the variable. In
other words, at given KH and pH, one can solve for [CO2]. That is
directly observable in the foregoing equation, and it is mathematically
sound. Again, we assume CO2 is being injected and won't equilibrate to
2-3ppm with the air.

You said that if KH is constant then pH must vary with CO2. That, too,
is directly observable in the foregoing equation.

Neither view is more correct; each is a mathematical truism.


Anyway, trying to rope this back into a discussion about plants/algae,
here's what I meant: Let us say we have 2 aquaria, A and B, and we set
the CO2-controller to maintain pH==6.5 in each (we heard "tetras like
pH 6.5" or something). And let's say we also want to grow plants (we
heard "plants like ~25ppm CO2 and below that algae win out.")

Here's what happens when we hold 2 of those parameters, KH and pH,
constant:

Tank A: KH==1.5, pH==6.5 [CO2]==14.2 ppm

Tank B: KH==3.0, pH==6.5 [CO2]==28.5 ppm

As you see, varying KH at a given pH DOES determine [CO2].

So in either tank the fish will get the pH they purportedly like. But
only in tank B, where the aquarist maintains a KH ~3, will there be the
proper [CO2] for plants.

Put another way, if you're using CO2 injection and are maintaining a
set pH, then the way you regulate CO2 concentration is by modulating
KH.

If you are not using CO2 injection, you're stuck with 2-3ppm CO2
(atmospheric equilibrium) and that's that; you dial in pH by modulating
KH. Assuming, also, that we're only using the bicarb/CO2 buffer
system. g

I hope that made it more clear.

--Trapper

"Dave S" wrote in message
...

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...

The KH is certainly not the culprit for the algae. Reduce your light
cycle
or start dosing CO2 and ferts, is this a planted tank?
I understand that KH is not the culprit for the algae. What I am trying to
do, is to get my water perameters right so that I can install my Christmas
present: a CO2 system :-) Yes, the tank is planted.
What is your current light cycle?
The current light cycle is 2 x 36w for 12 hours per day and a further 2 x
36w starting one hour after lights on and finsihing one hour before lights
out.
Size of tank and ammount of light?
Size: 400litre. However in terms of measuring the water capacity I deduct
20% for substrate and decoration etc. Therfore I calculate the capacity as
320litres.
Probalbly need to add ferts. What kind of algae?

BGA, BBA or what?

Bob

"Dave S" wrote in message
...


I understand that KH is not the culprit for the algae. What I am trying to
do, is to get my water perameters right so that I can install my Christmas
present: a CO2 system :-) Yes, the tank is planted.


Forget your water parameters for now, install the Xmas present straight away

You say you have a kh of 150, thats about 8 degrees Right? and your ph is
7.5. I don't have the co2 chart with me right now (look for chuck gadds
website, he has a co2 chart) but I reckon you should try and push the ph
down (with the co2) to just below 6.5. Are you injecting the co2 into a
filter intake? You need to try and maintain co2 at between 25 - 30ppm all
day long.


What is your current light cycle?
The current light cycle is 2 x 36w for 12 hours per day and a further 2 x
36w starting one hour after lights on and finsihing one hour before lights
out.
Size of tank and ammount of light?
Size: 400litre. However in terms of measuring the water capacity I deduct
20% for substrate and decoration etc. Therfore I calculate the capacity as
320litres.

So you have close to 1.5wpg. That sounds perfect. Buy yourself 2 cheapo
light timers, put 2 bulbs on each timer, the first 2 lights should come on
say early morning (8am?) and should continue for 10 hours. The second pair
of lights should come on at 10am and can be shut off at 4 or 5pm. YMMV but
this routine seems to work very well for me, you can fine tune this later to
suite your needs.


Fishload?
1.5
Water changing routine?
Once per week @ 20%


Once per week is good but change more water...say 40-50%.
Have you thought about ferts yet? Let me know and I'll try and walk you
through those aswell. You will need to start dosing as soon as the co2 gets
going, or else you'll end up with maximum algae. HTH
--
"In the beginning, God said the four-dimensional divergence of an
antisymmetric,
second rank tensor equals zero, and there was Light , and it was good."

first off, your kh is fine. you do not need to reduce your kh, especially
since you are going to use co2.

2nd, what kind of ph buffer are you currently using? Your ph is too low to
be natural with that kh. you will not be able to use co2 charts until you
get that additional buffering out of the system.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

"Margolis" wrote in message
...
Your ph is too low to
be natural with that kh. you will not be able to use co2 charts until you
get that additional buffering out of the system.

Margo, thats not true, If I understand it correctly the chart should still
work irrelevant of buffers, you're still adding CO2 to the system!
--
"In the beginning, God said the four-dimensional divergence of an
antisymmetric,
second rank tensor equals zero, and there was Light , and it was good."

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...

Margo, thats not true, If I understand it correctly the chart should still
work irrelevant of buffers, you're still adding CO2 to the system!
--


ahh, but it is true ;op

You are still adding co2, yes. But you cannot calculate how much co2 you
are getting by using a co2 chart because another buffer other than co2 is
lowering the ph throwing it all out of whack. co2 charts only work if the
only buffers are bicarbonate and co2. Throw any other buffer into the
equation and they aren't accurate.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq