# Super high kh



## Brian S. (Oct 24, 2011)

So, I finally got a hardness test kit and my GH is 3 but my kh is so high I gave up adding drops at 40! I have crushed coral in my filter and I have been bungling with baking soda during water changes to match the pH of my tap with my tank. pH is 8.8 or so.

Is this something to worry about and if so, how do I alleviate this? This fish seem like they are doing just fine so far.


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## czar_wilson (May 26, 2011)

I would not worry so much about it as most fish can easily adapt to a lower pH. Also the baking soda will raise your kH (I believe so anyways). I find it better to slowly acclimate the fish to my tap water then I have to worry less about matching it, as long as my values arent at the extreme.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Your water out of the tap is 8.8? And here, most of the people have to deal with a low pH out of the tap. If the fish are fine, I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as your pH is stable.

There is one way to alleviate the issue though; stop adding baking soda at every water change. The kH will slowly drop thus lowering your pH. But...I'm sure you already knew that.... :wink:


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

czar_wilson said:


> I would not worry so much about it as most fish can easily adapt to a lower pH. Also the baking soda will raise your kH (I believe so anyways). I find it better to slowly acclimate the fish to my tap water then I have to worry less about matching it, as long as my values arent at the extreme.


This is what I do as well. My pH is mid to high 7's and it is low 7 out of the tap. My malawi's do very well and the coloration is amazing. They also breed like rabbits which is another issue all together.

Stability is the key. The best way to do that unless you water is very acidic out of the tap is to leave it alone and maybe add some crushed coral or shells. Your fish will do much better with a stable pH than with a pH that constantly needs to be adjusted trying to reach that of the rift lakes. Just my $.02


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> So, I finally got a hardness test kit and my GH is 3 but my kh is so high I gave up adding drops at 40! I have crushed coral in my filter and I have been bungling with baking soda during water changes to match the pH of my tap with my tank. pH is 8.8 or so.
> 
> Is this something to worry about and if so, how do I alleviate this? This fish seem like they are doing just fine so far.


Adding baking soda to raise pH isn't necessary. If KH is adequate out of the tap, and the crushed coral is keeping it up, then don't add the baking soda. Whether pH is 8 or 8.8 matters not at all to rift lake cichlids IME. I'm assuming that's what you're keeping. Don't drive yourself crazy adjusting pH. My rift lake fish do great and colors are amazing at much lower pH than the lake. I started out worrying about parameters a whole lot more than I do now. I keep it simple now and it works very well.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

I would doubt your KH is higher then 40 if you are on town water. You know the KH test is different to the GH test right ?

The colors it should change to are different.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

He's adding baking soda, so it could be higher than 40.


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## Brian S. (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks for the responses.

My pH out of the tap is about 7.5, GH 3 and KH 3. Since adding crushed coral the tank pH has been going up and is now nice and purple on the API test.

So the baking soda has been for my new water to get it to match. I had been doing water changes every other day and didn't want pH swings (my nitrates are fine now).

So I guess I'm just doing it wrong. Properly dealing with pH and hardness is a new issue for me.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

The problem is that you end up causing more pH swings by trying to prevent them. I think you're also over-focused on pH. Bring your KH up to 8 or so with the crushed coral and let pH settle where it will. The important thing is that it'll be stable. Don't worry about the affect of adding tap water with a different pH. It doesn't matter. If the crushed coral doesn't keep the KH up, then add the baking soda to bring it up.

That's my suggestion from my experience anyway.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

prov356 said:


> He's adding baking soda, so it could be higher than 40.


Oh, i missed that.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

prov356 said:


> The problem is that you end up causing more pH swings by trying to prevent them. I think you're also over-focused on pH. Bring your KH up to 8 or so with the crushed coral and let pH settle where it will. The important thing is that it'll be stable. Don't worry about the affect of adding tap water with a different pH. It doesn't matter. If the crushed coral doesn't keep the KH up, then add the baking soda to bring it up.
> 
> That's my suggestion from my experience anyway.


Adding my experience to the mix, I totally agree.

When buffering your talking about KH.. not PH. This is where people get confused about "don't play with your PH by adding baking soda", your actually not playing with your ph directly, its your KH.. you should be monitoring your KH until its at the required level, and your ph will just follow suit and sit there nicely. If you monitor your PH when adding baking soda, you will find yourself getting a headache.

_Tip with Baking soda, mix it with tank water first and add one teaspoon at a time each hour monitoring your KH at the end of the hour. Now, I just dump mine in now because I know what I need, and I have suffient GH to stop PH over shooting, but for beginners this is the best method._


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## tim_s (Nov 27, 2011)

prov356 said:


> Bring your KH up to 8


Question: Is this 8 drops from the test kit?


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

tim_s said:


> prov356 said:
> 
> 
> > Bring your KH up to 8
> ...


Yes.


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## Brian S. (Oct 24, 2011)

prov356 said:


> The problem is that you end up causing more pH swings by trying to prevent them. I think you're also over-focused on pH. Bring your KH up to 8 or so with the crushed coral and let pH settle where it will. The important thing is that it'll be stable. Don't worry about the affect of adding tap water with a different pH. It doesn't matter. If the crushed coral doesn't keep the KH up, then add the baking soda to bring it up.
> 
> That's my suggestion from my experience anyway.


Thank you this helps.

This is my main hobby at the moment and I guess I am just trying to get my water "right" rather than "good enough". I do tend to over-think and over-do.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> This is my main hobby at the moment and I guess I am just trying to get my water "right" rather than "good enough". I do tend to over-think and over-do.


I started out that way too. I changed my thinking of 'right' as falling into a wider range of parameters.


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