KH Test Kit - really needed?

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 09:03:31 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

Or am I missing somthing important about KH?

You could be raising your pH move often than required, not to mention
have the pH go through up and down swings which can be harmful to your
fish.

KH is one of the more important things to test, because it acts as a
buffer. The higher the KH, the more stable your pH. There's many ways
to raise KH, like using baking soda, crushed coral, shells, limestone,
etc etc.

For the $10 it costs for the kit, it's worth every penny.

.... IMHO

Well at the moment I monitor pH, and if it is low, I add very small (less
than half a teaspoon) amounts of baking soda to gradually bring it up over a
few days, in addition to my weekly water change of around 15% volume.
If doing this gives me stable pH over time, is there any benefit to knowing
the actual KH value?
Surely if I had the test kit, I would find that my KH is low (probably,
since my pH is), and therefore the remedial action would be exactly the same
as if I found the pH was low?
Regards,
Richard.

"battlelance" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 09:03:31 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

Or am I missing somthing important about KH?

You could be raising your pH move often than required, not to mention
have the pH go through up and down swings which can be harmful to your
fish.

KH is one of the more important things to test, because it acts as a
buffer. The higher the KH, the more stable your pH. There's many ways
to raise KH, like using baking soda, crushed coral, shells, limestone,
etc etc.

For the $10 it costs for the kit, it's worth every penny.

... IMHO