KH Test Kit - really needed?

Hello,

There is an article on www.oscarfish.com that advises a KH test kit is one
of the important test kit to own (along with ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH).
I was all set to buy one, but then I spotted some API pH Up (my pH tends to
be on the lower side) and was thinking about buying this aswell.
Now I don't understand what the point of owning a KH test kit is, since if
my pH is low then won't I simply use pH Up to bring it back to the 6.5-7
mark regardless of the calcium carbonate levels?
I am guessing that pH Up probably modifies the ammount of calcium carbonate
in order to adjust the pH, so what is the point of knowing KH aslong as the
pH is correct?
Or am I missing somthing important about KH?

Regards,
Richard.

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

"Richard Phillips" wrote in message
news:vgC1c.187$re1.61@newsfe1-win...
Hello,

There is an article on www.oscarfish.com that advises a KH test kit is one
of the important test kit to own (along with ammonia, nitrite, nitrate,
pH).
I was all set to buy one, but then I spotted some API pH Up (my pH tends
to
be on the lower side) and was thinking about buying this aswell.
Now I don't understand what the point of owning a KH test kit is, since if
my pH is low then won't I simply use pH Up to bring it back to the 6.5-7
mark regardless of the calcium carbonate levels?
I am guessing that pH Up probably modifies the ammount of calcium
carbonate
in order to adjust the pH, so what is the point of knowing KH aslong as
the
pH is correct?
Or am I missing somthing important about KH?

Regards,
Richard.



I have all those test kits and in a fully cycled tank I never have to use my
ammonia or nitrite kit. I have an electronic PH meter and I use my KH kit a
lot simply because I have heavily planted tanks and the PH values and KH
values are tied together to determine the amount of CO2 that I need to
inject. In your case I would do the necessary research to find the best
water conditions for your fish and then adjust you PH and KH to match that.
I would not use chemicals like PH up or down to change your PH levels. This
is only a temporary solution and the PH will change back to its original
state. The constant swing in PH can be harmful to your fish. If your water
needs to be harder and more alkaline then adjust using baking soda to get it
to the right conditions. Once you know how much you need to add to get to a
certain point you can then easily maintain this level. The KH/GH test kit is
handy to have to check every now and again to make sure you are in the
proper range. In my African tank my tap water comes out at about 7.5 and
hardness around 70 PPM. Using baking soda I easily maintain PH of 8.0 and
hardness around 140-170 PPM.

Rick

I see,
So you are saying that with a KH test kit, it's easier to gauge how much
baking soda to add to achieve a particular KH (and hence a particular pH)?
Roughly how closely linked are KH and pH values? I know they are linked to
eachother in chemistry terms, but does it usually hold that at a particular
KH you tend to have a particular pH?
Regards,
Richard.

"Rick" wrote in message
...

"Richard Phillips" wrote in message
news:vgC1c.187$re1.61@newsfe1-win...
Hello,

There is an article on www.oscarfish.com that advises a KH test kit is
one
of the important test kit to own (along with ammonia, nitrite, nitrate,
pH).
I was all set to buy one, but then I spotted some API pH Up (my pH tends
to
be on the lower side) and was thinking about buying this aswell.
Now I don't understand what the point of owning a KH test kit is, since
if
my pH is low then won't I simply use pH Up to bring it back to the 6.5-7
mark regardless of the calcium carbonate levels?
I am guessing that pH Up probably modifies the ammount of calcium
carbonate
in order to adjust the pH, so what is the point of knowing KH aslong as
the
pH is correct?
Or am I missing somthing important about KH?

Regards,
Richard.



I have all those test kits and in a fully cycled tank I never have to use
my
ammonia or nitrite kit. I have an electronic PH meter and I use my KH kit
a
lot simply because I have heavily planted tanks and the PH values and KH
values are tied together to determine the amount of CO2 that I need to
inject. In your case I would do the necessary research to find the best
water conditions for your fish and then adjust you PH and KH to match
that.
I would not use chemicals like PH up or down to change your PH levels.
This
is only a temporary solution and the PH will change back to its original
state. The constant swing in PH can be harmful to your fish. If your water
needs to be harder and more alkaline then adjust using baking soda to get
it
to the right conditions. Once you know how much you need to add to get to
a
certain point you can then easily maintain this level. The KH/GH test kit
is
handy to have to check every now and again to make sure you are in the
proper range. In my African tank my tap water comes out at about 7.5 and
hardness around 70 PPM. Using baking soda I easily maintain PH of 8.0 and
hardness around 140-170 PPM.

Rick

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 15:37:21 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

I see,
So you are saying that with a KH test kit, it's easier to gauge how much
baking soda to add to achieve a particular KH (and hence a particular pH)?
Roughly how closely linked are KH and pH values? I know they are linked to
eachother in chemistry terms, but does it usually hold that at a particular
KH you tend to have a particular pH?

You should have pH, KH and GH test kits to determine the amount of
additives (baking soda, epsom salts, marine salt, etc.) you need for
your particular tap chemisty and tank size.

And they aren't linked 1:1. For example, my pH is 8.0 and my KH is
around 250. My tap water is 7.5 and my KH & GH are 10 ppm.

You'll want to read:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php

And any other article that me be of relevance to you on that site.

Good luck.

Thanks,
I shall take a look!
R.

"battlelance" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 15:37:21 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

I see,
So you are saying that with a KH test kit, it's easier to gauge how much
baking soda to add to achieve a particular KH (and hence a particular
pH)?
Roughly how closely linked are KH and pH values? I know they are linked
to
eachother in chemistry terms, but does it usually hold that at a
particular
KH you tend to have a particular pH?

You should have pH, KH and GH test kits to determine the amount of
additives (baking soda, epsom salts, marine salt, etc.) you need for
your particular tap chemisty and tank size.

And they aren't linked 1:1. For example, my pH is 8.0 and my KH is
around 250. My tap water is 7.5 and my KH & GH are 10 ppm.

You'll want to read:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php

And any other article that me be of relevance to you on that site.

Good luck.

One other thing though, if my pH was low and I wanted to raise it slightly,
I would prob use baking soda regardless of KH wouldn't I?
What other avenues would I have if my KH was "high" relative to my pH?
R.

"battlelance" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 15:37:21 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

I see,
So you are saying that with a KH test kit, it's easier to gauge how much
baking soda to add to achieve a particular KH (and hence a particular
pH)?
Roughly how closely linked are KH and pH values? I know they are linked
to
eachother in chemistry terms, but does it usually hold that at a
particular
KH you tend to have a particular pH?

You should have pH, KH and GH test kits to determine the amount of
additives (baking soda, epsom salts, marine salt, etc.) you need for
your particular tap chemisty and tank size.

And they aren't linked 1:1. For example, my pH is 8.0 and my KH is
around 250. My tap water is 7.5 and my KH & GH are 10 ppm.

You'll want to read:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php

And any other article that me be of relevance to you on that site.

Good luck.

"battlelance" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 15:37:21 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

I see,
So you are saying that with a KH test kit, it's easier to gauge how much
baking soda to add to achieve a particular KH (and hence a particular
pH)?
Roughly how closely linked are KH and pH values? I know they are linked
to
eachother in chemistry terms, but does it usually hold that at a
particular
KH you tend to have a particular pH?

You should have pH, KH and GH test kits to determine the amount of
additives (baking soda, epsom salts, marine salt, etc.) you need for
your particular tap chemisty and tank size.

And they aren't linked 1:1. For example, my pH is 8.0 and my KH is
around 250. My tap water is 7.5 and my KH & GH are 10 ppm.

You'll want to read:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php

And any other article that me be of relevance to you on that site.

Good luck.



you read those articles and came to the conclusion that PH and KH are not
linked?? They are linked in so far if you buffer your water using baking
soda to obtain a higher PH then your KH will also rise. If you lower your KH
say using R/O water then your PH will drop. Linked, yes definitely.

Rick

Rick

He did say they aren't linked "1:1", I think he means that low pH and low KH
tend to go together, but there is not a predictable relationship (unless I
guess, you get very scientific about it?!).
R.

"Rick" wrote in message
...

"battlelance" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 15:37:21 -0000, "Richard Phillips"
wrote:

I see,
So you are saying that with a KH test kit, it's easier to gauge how
much
baking soda to add to achieve a particular KH (and hence a particular
pH)?
Roughly how closely linked are KH and pH values? I know they are
linked
to
eachother in chemistry terms, but does it usually hold that at a
particular
KH you tend to have a particular pH?

You should have pH, KH and GH test kits to determine the amount of
additives (baking soda, epsom salts, marine salt, etc.) you need for
your particular tap chemisty and tank size.

And they aren't linked 1:1. For example, my pH is 8.0 and my KH is
around 250. My tap water is 7.5 and my KH & GH are 10 ppm.

You'll want to read:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php

And any other article that me be of relevance to you on that site.

Good luck.



you read those articles and came to the conclusion that PH and KH are not
linked?? They are linked in so far if you buffer your water using baking
soda to obtain a higher PH then your KH will also rise. If you lower your
KH
say using R/O water then your PH will drop. Linked, yes definitely.

Rick

Rick