BettaBeats Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 (edited) i jsut bought a test kit for GH/KH. here are the results, can some members help me figure this out? 10G KH 5 drops degree dKH 5 ppm KH 89.5 GH 10 drops ppm GH 179 pH 7.0 moved from another apartment, incl. 3/4 of the original water. new tank to my new apartment.. 20Gh KH 14 drops - off the chart?! GH 20 drops off the chart?! pH 7.8 ...... i have the geosystem pacific gravel in this tank.. w/ some laterite and bigger black gravel in some spots.. heavily planted. Edited November 2, 2009 by BettaBeats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 (edited) From the Geosystems website: GEOsystem Pacific Gravel , from the ocean, provides a variety of natural color tones that will enhance most aquarium environments. Note: GEOsystem Pacific Gravel will buffer pH. It is suitable for Marine, brackish water and African Chichlid aquariums. This is probably some kind of calcium carbonate type gravel and will raise your KH, GH, and pH. Not the most suitable substrate for a planted tank. Edited November 2, 2009 by werner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaBeats Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 darn... so i guess i need to do a whole tank rebuild.. . what's a good substrate I can use and mix w/ laterite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Any inert gravel will work. Smaller sizes (1-3mm) are good- the plants stay rooted easily, and it doesn't compact too quickly like sand would. Sandblasting grit is nice, or you can find "play sand" at some of the large home centers (sometimes this stuff requires a lot of rinsing.) There's always Flourite or other brands of specialty plant substrates- you wouldn't need to mix these with the laterite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Just a note on the sandblasting stuff.... I bought a big bag of the smallest sandblasting material they had, and apparently they don't sell silica anymore, so I went with the recycled glass in the 30 gal planted tank, the plants are doing great and the fish are well...however, I put in 22 small apple snails and the majority of them died and now i'm afraid to put in a pleco...so I think if you end up using this stuff, don't put anything in that will eat/suck on the glass. The plants are doing great though...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 It was most likely the move that stirred up the water in the gravel and mixed it so that you had a great big PH Jump along with GH an KH so maybe a water change or two would allow things to settle down a bit and things should go back to the way they were. It shouldn't hurt to wait if you wanted to before you change your substrate. Good luck l Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaBeats Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 tonight I am going to check out riverfront and see if i can snap up a deal on some substrate. if not i have 2 guys (1 in calgary, one in edmonton) w/ fluvite mixtures for sale i will work with. does this mean I have to wait for the tank to cycle again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 You will lose some of your bacteria by removing the substrate. But if you have a decent sized filter and lots of growing plants, I wouldn't worry a ton about it. You could go easy on feeding too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaBeats Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 ok, thanks. i will try and keep some of the water and i can maybe add some from my other tank. One thing I am excited about is replanting this thing now that my stock is pretty nice.. check out my current set up: http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=26816 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'm going to throw a new thought in here. There are 2 sources of water in Calgary, the Bow and Elbow rivers and 2 treatment centres. Elbow is for south Calgary and Bow is for the north. Myself, I have always used water from the Elbow and am not familiar with the properties of the Bow water(and would like to know more about it). Perhaps in your move, you changed your source of water??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaBeats Posted November 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 I'm going to throw a new thought in here. There are 2 sources of water in Calgary, the Bow and Elbow rivers and 2 treatment centres. Elbow is for south Calgary and Bow is for the north. Myself, I have always used water from the Elbow and am not familiar with the properties of the Bow water(and would like to know more about it). Perhaps in your move, you changed your source of water??? this was originally my first thought. but the ph in my 10 gal hasnt changed at all. and it was only a few blocks, so i doubt i'm on another water main. appears to be the substrate.. :\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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