# Water Hardness (GH vs KH)



## dreamcatcherr9 (Oct 26, 2015)

Do you test for water hardness?

Do you add salts(s)?

I thought I buy a Cichlid Salt (figured couldn't hurt). I tested my tap water for a base reading, GH read around 196.9 and KH read around 358. I though I read I should be above 400KH(?) for African Cichlids?

I added Salt (first a small dose, had little affect, so later a "standard dose"), and the reading are strange.

While my KH arouse to about 447.5, my GH dropped to about 143.2(?).

Is it normal for KH to rise while GH drops? I thought or expected them both to rise.

PH was normal (8.2), and I did the test twice for both just to make sure I didn't make a mistake.

Thoughts / opinions?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It seems like your base readings were fine...why did you add cichlid salt? Confirm your results were GH=11 drops and KH=12 drops?

What was the pH out of the tap? In the tank before you added anything?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Wow, I wish my water readings were as nice. My water is too soft, and a little low on the PH, so I only adjust a little. 
I agree with DJR, you have very good African cichlid water. Are those the readings out of the tap? I would not add anything to it.


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## dreamcatcherr9 (Oct 26, 2015)

Base water reading (out of tap): GH = 11 drops, KH = 20 drop

Today it was only 8 drops for GH and 25 drop for KH!

I never worried about my water hardness before (but I have only done Saltwater and Tropical Community Freshwater).

I am also unclear if I supposed to be worried about the GH of the water, the KH of the water or BOTH, and at what desired level (based on the API chart) they should be.

I have read some debate on the "need" for adding salt for Cichlids. I was really just trying to cover the bases.

But it seems more trouble than its worth. And much more annoying tests than the standard API tests (with a color chart).

Thank you guys.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It can cause trouble, as you see. As long as your KH and GH are 7 drops or more I would not add anything. What is your pH from the tab again?

At this point I would not worry about the fact that you added cichlid salt and are getting crazy readings. I'd just let weekly PWC of 50% or more without cichlid salts get you back to normal after a couple of changes.

FYI my pH=7.8 and my GH and KH = 7 drops and all is rock steady...this is fine for the African Rift Lake cichlids (see my signature, 10 years and beyond).


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## dreamcatcherr9 (Oct 26, 2015)

Thank you DJRansome.

PH = 8.2 out of tab.


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## stevaroo01 (Dec 24, 2015)

I don't want to high jack the thread, but I have a related question, so this seems like a good place for it...

I have well water. It is extremely hard, so the house is on a softener. The hardness out of the unsoftened hose spigots is KH 17, GH 25 drops! Out of the softened house water the GH is essentially 0 (1 drop changes the color immediately), and the KH is about the same. PH is around 8.2.

I am still establishing my tank and am using Carib Sea Cichlid sand (aragonite I believe), and also used the Cichlid salt and Malawi buffer. I used softened water for my initial fill. With all of this in mind my PH really hasn't changed much, the KH is up to 20, and the GH is up to 6 (as of yesterday at most recent test).

So, am I ok like this, or should I find a way to raise the GH more? And if it needs to go up, how should I do it? I've thought about mixing hose water and tap water, but what do y'all think?

Thank you for your help! I'm new to cichlids and want to get this right so I don't kill a bunch of fish!!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Why not use 100% water from before the softener? Just don't change pH/GH/KH all at once if you have fish in the tank.


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## stevaroo01 (Dec 24, 2015)

DJRansome said:


> Why not use 100% water from before the softener? Just don't change pH/GH/KH all at once if you have fish in the tank.


 Thank you for your response! Being new to keeping a Cichlid aquarium, I know the water hardness is important, and that African cichlids prefer harder water. However, I guess I was under the impression that my water before the softener was too hard. Based on the numbers in my previous post, is that not the case? I can easily start doing water changes using that water instead of the softened water, and start small so as to ease the fish into the harder water. There are only a few in there right now, but I would love to not kill them!

Thank you again for your help!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Assuming you don't have a nitrate issue, I'd do small (to change parameters very slowly) partial water changes weekly with well water until 100% of your tank water is from the well.

Ongoing you will have a temp issue for 50% weekly changes...many people use a storage tank so well water can come to room temperature for water changes.


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## stevaroo01 (Dec 24, 2015)

DJRansome said:


> Assuming you don't have a nitrate issue, I'd do small (to change parameters very slowly) partial water changes weekly with well water until 100% of your tank water is from the well.
> 
> Ongoing you will have a temp issue for 50% weekly changes...many people use a storage tank so well water can come to room temperature for water changes.


Great! Thank you for your help and advice. I don't have a Nitrate issue, so I will begin doing small water changes with well water to get it switched over.

Have a great day?


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