# High kH



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

Hey guys & girls, I just started my aquarium this afternoon and I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid or not about my kH. My pH is fine at 8, but my kH is 10. My water out of the tap is apparently recycled sewerage hence the high kH

I'm wanting to put African cichlids in the tank once it's cycled so will my high kH affect them negatively at all? I'm using sand as my substrate and I have one piece of texas holy rock in there with 3 other small rocks.


----------



## AlmightyJoshaeus (May 2, 2013)

Which Africans? If you are talking about rift lake cichlids, then no - in fact, they will probably like the high KH. Riverine cichlids may be less fond of it, but that depends on the individual riverine in question (Thorachochromis would probably be fine, but Nannochromis would not appreciate your KH levels).

By the way, since it sounds like you are new, you might want to look up some basic information on the cichlids you intend to own. Some good things to check are "Is this fish a pair bonder or a harem former?", "Does this fish substrate spawn or mouthbrood", "Where does this fish live in the wild?", and so on. Shelldwellers, for instance, would have very different stocking, feeding, and reproductive requirements than those of kribensis or mbuna.


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

Thanks for your reply 

I'm looking at Lake Malawi cichlids. I've come up with a stock list:

3 x Electric Yellow (1 Male, 2 Females)
3 x Electric Blue (1 Male, 2 Females)
2 x Kimpuma (1 Male, 1 Female)
1 x Red Ruby Peacock

If you have any issues about my stocking list please let me know 

I need to get some more rocks for the electric yellow's & blues that much I know.

On a side note, where I live in Australia its hard to get clear ammonia but I can get cloudy ammonia. The cloudy ammonia has no perfume additives, would I be able to use it to cycle my tank?


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

Nevermind about the cloudy ammonia question. I should have used the search function before posting


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I wouldn't worry at all about your kH. I keep Central and Malawi fish and my kH is 29 or 30(don't remember).

Keeping pairs and even trios of Malawi usually doesn't work out. Either does a lone peacock with mbuna. It'd be best to start a stocking thread in the 'Lake Malawi' section. Be sure to include your tank dimensions. Very important.


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

Ok no worries Iggy will do. Thanks for your input


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Welcome


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

What is a good way to drop the pH in my tank? It is currently 9.5 which is obviously too high for the fish I want to stock. With the kH being high I know it may be a bit of a challenge to reduce the pH. I've read that using distilled water will help lower the kH, but I'm a bit clueless about other methods.


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Have you done a water change yet?


----------



## Vincenzo (Mar 6, 2014)

You said on the 6th that your pH was 8. Now it's 9.5? You are getting 8 out of the tap? Has your tank completely cycled? Check your ammonia level. I don't think your KH is too high. Water change will lower all your parameters. If your pH is caused by carbonates and not the ammonia, try bicarbonate that should buffer the water down to 8.3 and maintain it there. But if it's the ammonia than your tank is still cycling. Keep testing.


----------



## Vincenzo (Mar 6, 2014)

Now that I think about it, if you are cycling your tank than don't worry about hardness until you get the ammonia and nitrites down to zero.


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

I have done a water change as my nitrate was between 5 - 10. That was about a week ago. Unfortunately with my job I haven't been able to test the water religiously. Before my water change my ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0 and my nitrate was between 5 - 10.

I think my Texas holy rock was pushing my pH up. I will be doing a water change this afternoon and will see if I get a pH spike or not still.


----------



## Vincenzo (Mar 6, 2014)

You can lower your pH by adding sodium bicarbonate. But don't add too much. There is already some bicarbonate in the water. The pH will remain constant around 8.2, and your hardness will increase. Changing the water may not lower your pH. There is an equilibrium between carbon dioxide-bicarbonate-carbonate. I think a small water change may not result in a noticable pH change, especially with using colorimetric tests. Do you have fish in the tank? Because that would increase the carbon dioxide and lower the pH.


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

No I havent added fish to the tank, and wont do so until I can get the water as close to perfect as possible.

I was going to do a 50% water change now that I've taken the texas rock out to see if that changes or should I just try the bicarb method before doing that?

Thanks to everyone posting, the help is greatly appreciated


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

If you had not done a large water change during the cycling process, your Texas holey rock may have been able to buffer your water. Once you get fish in the tank, you'll be doing weekly water changes to keep nitrates in check and the rock will have very little buffering effect. Since your tank is cycled, do a huge water change before adding any fish.


----------



## lolstep (Jun 13, 2013)

I did a 25% water change when I saw the nitrates were up but other than that I havent done one since. When you saw huge water change, like 75%?


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sure 75% sounds good. Let the tank settle out and check your pH again.


----------

