New African Tank: Water Hardness question

Mister Jerk · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

I currently have a 55Gal / Emperor 280 / Ebo Jager 150w Tank that I am
setting up for African Cichlids. I have added about 1.5inches of
crushed coral substrate 24 hours ago.

Naturally my water (well water) is very soft. After adding water to
the tank with substrate and company I am getting the following chemical
readings.

pH 8.4
gH 60ppm / 3.36
KH 40ppm / 2.24

I am pretty happy with the pH but I wonder about the gH and KH, they
seem unusually low for the pH. Will these readings get better over time
or do I need to treat the water with something?

Or can Africans just do fine with that?

thanks!

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>freshwater>cichlids

Mister Jerk · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Pseudo Acei
Yellow Lab
Saluosi

steve@tropheus.demon.co.uk wrote:
> On 27 Aug 2006 16:37:55 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
> wrote:
>
> >Or can Africans just do fine with that?
>
> It depends which Africans you mean.
>
> --
> Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software
>
> EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
> http://www.easynn.com

steve · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 102

On 27 Aug 2006 16:37:55 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
wrote:

>Or can Africans just do fine with that?

It depends which Africans you mean.

--
Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software

EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
http://www.easynn.com

Mister Jerk · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Yes, thanks, glad to know I don't need to do more.

I just thought the GH and KH properties were odd for such a high pH?

v
steve@tropheus.demon.co.uk wrote:
> On 28 Aug 2006 03:55:34 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
> wrote:
>
> >Pseudo Acei
> >Yellow Lab
> >Saluosi
> >
>
> So, you mean Lake Malawi cichlids. As the lake is alkaline but not
> particularly hard your tank water is ideal. It's also OK for Lake
> Victoria cichlids but it's too soft for Lake Tanganika cichlids.
>
> --
> Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software
>
> EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
> http://www.easynn.com

steve · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 102

On 28 Aug 2006 03:55:34 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
wrote:

>Pseudo Acei
>Yellow Lab
>Saluosi
>

So, you mean Lake Malawi cichlids. As the lake is alkaline but not
particularly hard your tank water is ideal. It's also OK for Lake
Victoria cichlids but it's too soft for Lake Tanganika cichlids.

--
Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software

EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
http://www.easynn.com

megasycophant · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

I would expect your pH to drop with such a low KH once there's any
organic waste. GH you needn't worry about, but I'd add some good old
baking soda to get the KH up to somewhere around 10 degrees.

Mister Jerk wrote:
> Yes, thanks, glad to know I don't need to do more.
>
>
> I just thought the GH and KH properties were odd for such a high pH?
>
> v
> steve@tropheus.demon.co.uk wrote:
> > On 28 Aug 2006 03:55:34 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
> > wrote:
> >
> > >Pseudo Acei
> > >Yellow Lab
> > >Saluosi
> > >
> >
> > So, you mean Lake Malawi cichlids. As the lake is alkaline but not
> > particularly hard your tank water is ideal. It's also OK for Lake
> > Victoria cichlids but it's too soft for Lake Tanganika cichlids.
> >
> > --
> > Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software
> >
> > EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
> > http://www.easynn.com

megasycophant · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

BTW, any relationship between GH and pH is incidental (generally GH
rising due to addition of something that also impacts KH, like the
calcium carbonate in crushed coral) since the anions (generally Ca++ or
Mg++) which compose GH don't have an effect on pH.

Mister Jerk wrote:
> Yes, thanks, glad to know I don't need to do more.
>
>
> I just thought the GH and KH properties were odd for such a high pH?
>
> v
> steve@tropheus.demon.co.uk wrote:
> > On 28 Aug 2006 03:55:34 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
> > wrote:
> >
> > >Pseudo Acei
> > >Yellow Lab
> > >Saluosi
> > >
> >
> > So, you mean Lake Malawi cichlids. As the lake is alkaline but not
> > particularly hard your tank water is ideal. It's also OK for Lake
> > Victoria cichlids but it's too soft for Lake Tanganika cichlids.
> >
> > --
> > Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software
> >
> > EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
> > http://www.easynn.com

swarvegorilla · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 235

hmmmm.....
not quite sure how I missed that until now but cheers sycophant.

"megasycophant" wrote in message @b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> BTW, any relationship between GH and pH is incidental (generally GH
> rising due to addition of something that also impacts KH, like the
> calcium carbonate in crushed coral) since the anions (generally Ca++ or
> Mg++) which compose GH don't have an effect on pH.
>
> Mister Jerk wrote:
>> Yes, thanks, glad to know I don't need to do more.
>>
>>
>> I just thought the GH and KH properties were odd for such a high pH?
>>
>> v
>> steve@tropheus.demon.co.uk wrote:
>> > On 28 Aug 2006 03:55:34 -0700, "Mister Jerk"
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > >Pseudo Acei
>> > >Yellow Lab
>> > >Saluosi
>> > >
>> >
>> > So, you mean Lake Malawi cichlids. As the lake is alkaline but not
>> > particularly hard your tank water is ideal. It's also OK for Lake
>> > Victoria cichlids but it's too soft for Lake Tanganika cichlids.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Steve Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software
>> >
>> > EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
>> > http://www.easynn.com
>

FEAR_THE_ SWAMP · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

If your talking PH, I have always done well with 7.0 up to 7.9 with
malawians and victorians, and always keep my frontosa tank around 8.5,
no higher then 9.

swarvegorilla · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 235

Was actually just more impressed with the elegant placement into words oif
something I had not really considered.
"any relationship between GH and pH is incidental (generally GH
> rising due to addition of something that also impacts KH, like the
> calcium carbonate in crushed coral) since the anions (generally Ca++ or
> Mg++) which compose GH don't have an effect on pH.
"
I mean I kinda knew that..... no one really tells ya so much, in so few a
words hey
Smile

"FEAR_THE_ SWAMP" wrote in message @storefull-3231.bay.webtv.net...
> If your talking PH, I have always done well with 7.0 up to 7.9 with
> malawians and victorians, and always keep my frontosa tank around 8.5,
> no higher then 9.
>