# Questions regarding Intensely high gh/kh.



## DutchMuch (14 Jun 2019)

Hello all,
My gH is currently at around 15, and the kH is around 13-14.

I am planning to breed a rare variant of japense trapdoor snails, which like gh/kh both around 6-8 if i am correct. Similar to neocaridina shrimp.

Try to find how to lower the gH and kH, any advice?

so far i have read that the pretty much only sure fire way is to use RO/DI from the store

Appreciate it,
Dutch


----------



## dw1305 (14 Jun 2019)

Hi all, 





DutchMuch said:


> My gH is currently at around 15, and the kH is around 13-14. I am planning to breed a rare variant of japense trapdoor snails, which like gh/kh both around 6-8 if i am correct. Similar to neocaridina shrimp.


 I'd be very surprised if the snails weren't fine at 13-14 dKH. Cherry shrimp were fine in our tap water (18 dKH/dGH), it is soft water that isn't any good for them.

cheers Darrel


----------



## alto (14 Jun 2019)

I’d request the supplier water conditions and set tanks to match as closely as possible
Then measure water in shipping bags to check - if there is any - snails mostly ship damp, so I’d request a tank water sample be sent (though unless you know the seller/shipper well, approach any water sample (& parameters) with some scepticism 

Then gradually switch over to tap water conditions - over a couple months rather than weeks

Observing Nerite sp. shipments over the last year or so, they often seem fine initially, but then may die off after 2-3 months, other shipments may show high early losses (upon arrival - 2 weeks), some show few losses initially or over first months


----------



## DutchMuch (14 Jun 2019)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,  I'd be very surprised if the snails weren't fine at 13-14 dKH. Cherry shrimp were fine in our tap water (18 dKH/dGH), it is soft water that isn't any good for them.
> 
> cheers Darrel


The water runs through a water softner, is this ok?


----------



## alto (14 Jun 2019)

Depends - most home water softeners replace with sodium ions which is seldom appreciated by plants or livestock 

Check technical details on your system


----------



## DutchMuch (14 Jun 2019)

alto said:


> Depends - most home water softeners replace with sodium ions which is seldom appreciated by plants or livestock
> 
> Check technical details on your system


What should i check for?


----------



## DutchMuch (14 Jun 2019)

i believe this is the one we own.
http://www.waterboss.com/watersoftenermodel950.shtml

Water softners reduce calcium and mg in the water, so how come my gh reading (and kh) are both so high still?


----------



## alto (14 Jun 2019)

> 2.5 pounds of salt are needed for regeneration.


so definitely substituting Na ions



> The 950 Water Softeners can soften up to 35 grains per gallon


Check what company means by “grains”
Also is this flow rate dependent?

What are the GH etc values for local water - check municipal sites in the area - incoming water may be much higher GH, or perhaps water softener needs some maintenance 
If private well, there should be a report available - though this depends on local bylaws


----------



## DutchMuch (15 Jun 2019)

alto said:


> perhaps water softener needs some maintenance
> If private well, there should be a report available


We have a private well, we did a water quality report once dont think we have the paper for it...

GH i assume would be Much higher if not a little higher.

I also imagine that yes it is flow rate dependent. 

Water softener is brand new, dont think it needs any fixing or maintenance... *also just looked at it to verify*

We do not have local water, such as city water etc.


----------



## alto (15 Jun 2019)

If you know which company did the report, they may still have a copy (depending on time elapsed)

If the water softener is new, it’s possible it’s not set up properly etc - the site you linked seems short on technical info

You could likely call and speak to technical support 

For a quick check, just pull water before after softener to check GH etc - there are home kits that may be cheaper or more technical than aquarium kits (I’ve not looked in ages so no idea what’s available currently), kits that include standards would be my choice


----------



## DutchMuch (15 Jun 2019)

Did a gh/kh test on every source of water we have:

Default tap water gH: 15 / kH: 14

Distilled water gH: 7 / kH: 5-6

Well water gH: 15+ / kH: 15+

Current tank water: gH: 15 / kH 13


----------



## DutchMuch (15 Jun 2019)

alto said:


> If you know which company did the report, they may still have a copy (depending on time elapsed)


It was the gov. Ill see if i can get it.


alto said:


> If the water softener is new, it’s possible it’s not set up properly etc - the site you linked seems short on technical info


was prof. installed when house was built



alto said:


> For a quick check, just pull water before after softener


refer to last post, hope the tests helped a bit


----------



## Zeus. (15 Jun 2019)

DutchMuch said:


> Distilled water gH: 7 / kH: 5-6



Correct me if I'm wrong but it doesn't sound like distilled water to me


----------



## sparkyweasel (15 Jun 2019)

Definitely something wrong there, either with the distilled water or with the hardness testing.


----------



## alto (15 Jun 2019)

From your GH/KH values above, either the water softener isn’t doing much (should perform much better than a few degrees of softening, note if the input water doesn’t meet the required psi (from company page), system won’t work as advertised) or your kit or technique has some flaws

If using the same test container (vial, test tube etc) for successive samples, how are you cleaning this between tests?

Which test kit are you using?
Check expiry date (though KH/GH isn’t usually time sensitive as long as closed tightly and stored moderate room temp)


----------



## Zeus. (15 Jun 2019)

teach me for scaning the thread and not reading it

It's not distilled water it's soften water 

Your cheapest/easier option dependant on size of tank is to buy some RO water. My LFS sells it at £0.06p per litre which for a hard water area is probably cheaper than doing it myself. Then mix with the tap OFC. All depends if your on a water meter, if not pick up an RO unit M8 

Like Darrel says soften water is tricky as all its its  through is an ion exchange, so it's just exchanged one ion for another so the hardness may change but the ppm of ions will be the same or more.


----------



## DutchMuch (16 Jun 2019)

alto said:


> From your GH/KH values above, either the water softener isn’t doing much (should perform much better than a few degrees of softening, note if the input water doesn’t meet the required psi (from company page), system won’t work as advertised) or your kit or technique has some flaws
> 
> If using the same test container (vial, test tube etc) for successive samples, how are you cleaning this between tests?
> 
> ...


Test kit: api master kit

cleaning it with a good wash of only water then letting it air dry on a rack.

Isnt expired, kit is relatively new since i replaced the old one i had finally.


----------



## DutchMuch (16 Jun 2019)

Zeus. said:


> if not pick up an RO unit M8


i cant, or i would, im on the college dorm noodle raman budget.


----------

