How to raise gh/kh?

[charden]

Ok so I decded to do a full blown water test on both my tanks,,here are the results

125
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40ppm
GH 107.4
KH 143.2 ppm
PH 8.0

55
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10ppm
GH 179ppm
KH 107.4 ppm
PH 8.4

The only products I have used are Prime, Stability, Seachem Malawi Buffer, and Seachem Cichlid Lake Salt.

My first question is why would the results be different on each tank when the method is the same? Second question is shouldnt my gh/kh be higher than it is for Malawi and Tang tanks?

I am afraid the rise in Nitrates on the 125 is actually due to the Wet/Dry and not being able to really clean out all the food and stuff that hits the bottom without a total break down of the tank. Any suggestions or are my water conditions ok?

[bnoel210]

The only thing I would be worried about is your 40ppm nitrate. Its not to bad but a little on the higher of the ok side. A few water changes and it should fix that. My opinion tho thats all I really make sure stays low. If all your other tests stay stable and dont fluxuate you should be good. You start to get into trouble when youstart trying to get other levels to get to a certain point. You start trying to buffer to much it could cause a mini cycle and dead fish. Your fish have been doing just fine with the levels you have. Keep them stable and your fish should be happy

[charden]

Thats the thing Brian....I just did a water change on the 125 2 days ago. I am starting to hate this WD. It is alot easier to clean canisters.

[bnoel210]

I have never had a WD so cant help you out there. Im so cheap/broke, Army pay sucks, im still saving up for my first canister filter

[mruble]

www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php

[charden]

Thanks Mruble.

[jon carman]

Yep I just add Epson salt or baking soda. Seachem is a rip off(until they sponsor us) and then it is still a rip off.

I personally would slowly phase buffers out and see what happens. If your pH is 7.6 and up, and water is on hard side out of tap I would not do anything. I have killed tank fulls of fish messing with it. I have had wild tangs breed at 7.6, and live fine for years.

So I see you having a bigger chance at a disaster buffering and getting a huge pH swing and it killing everything.

If your nitrates are that high I would do a water change every couple days until it is around 10.

[charden]

Ok thanks Jon...I will try that

[jon carman]

See what pH is out of tap before you go too far. If it is 7.0 you probably need to buffer a little.

[charden]

It is 7.6 at tap

[jon carman]

You should be good. Just do transition slow. I would put half as much buffer each water change until you are putting any in.

[rickl]

How long did you let the tap water sit before you checked the pH? The tap water can have an unusual CO2 level, which affects the pH. If you let it sit out for a few hours before testing, the CO2 will equilibrate. Might be worth doing a kH/gH test on the tap water as well.

Also -- on your wet/dry setup, do you have a mechanical prefilter? The only time your filter can give you "nitrate problems" is if you let the gunk get down to where it's hard to clean (i.e. in a canister, in the biomedia of a wet/dry, or down in the gravel of your UGF). I'd investigate a way to get a sponge or sheet of quilt batting or something in the path towards the biomedia that you can easily clean and/or replace. A wet/dry can be one of the easiest filters to maintain, it doesn't have to be difficult to clean.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)

[rickl]

Also, I believe the nitrogen cycle has acidic byproducts which tend to reduce the kH/pH of the system they're in, which might explain the difference in the pH/kH of your two tanks. And do you top off with RO water before you do water changes? Evaporation can affect both the gH and kH.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)

[charden]

I have the blue bonded pads in the drip tray.

[jon carman]

How often do you do water changes, what percent? I would cut feeding back until nitrates are down.