# Raising KH with limestone



## Zulato (12 Dec 2021)

Hi all
My tap water has a dKH 2 and I try to bring it up to around 5 using aquadur. However, after a few water changes the KH drops again. 
I was wondering if I can hide some limestones under the substrate and it would keep the KH more consistent?

Ps.: I want to hide it because limestone wouldn’t look good in my current layout


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## bazz (12 Dec 2021)

Hi,
I've heard of people putting crushed coral or oyster shell in their filters to buffer the KH but I don't really know why you would want to do this, a lot of people would die for tap water with that parameter.
You haven't provided much information and I'm wondering if you have expensive soil that is buffering your KH down, it's going somewhere.
Off the top of my head 2.5g of potassium carbonate dissolved in 100 litres of water will raise the KH 1°, much cheaper than Aquadur but I don't know what your GH is which can be raised with calcium chloride and magnesium sulphate.
If it's any consolation I run my tank at KH1 with no ill effects.
Cheers!


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## dw1305 (12 Dec 2021)

Hi all,


Zulato said:


> if I can hide some limestones under the substrate and it would keep the KH more consistent?


Have a look at <"Oyster shell">.


bazz said:


> buffer the KH but I don't really know why you would want to do this, a lot of people would die for tap water with that parameter.
> You haven't provided much information and I'm wondering if you have expensive soil that is buffering your KH down, it's going somewhere.


<"Same advice for me">. 

cheers Darrel


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## naz (12 Dec 2021)

If you have seiri stone mountain rock in your aquarium,  depending how much you have In your tank your kh will raise ever day.

My kh in my tanks that does not have that much mountain rock in it raises by 1dkh daily .
khco3 will raise the kh as well.


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## Zulato (13 Dec 2021)

naz said:


> If you have seiri stone mountain rock in your aquarium,  depending how much you have In your tank your kh will raise ever day.
> 
> My kh in my tanks that does not have that much mountain rock in it raises by 1dkh daily .
> khco3 will raise the kh as well.
> View attachment 178352


Very good. Thanks for that ! I have to raise around 2dKH every time I do a water change


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## MichaelJ (13 Dec 2021)

Zulato said:


> Very good. Thanks for that ! I have to raise around 2dKH every time I do a water change


Hi @Zulato  Just curious to why you want to raise your KH? I run both my densely planted tanks in the 1-2 KH range. For a long time I was fixated on making sure my pH wouldn't fluctuate by increasing the buffer capacity in my tanks (aiming at ~5-7 KH). That was just until I realized that people who inject CO2 are subjecting their tanks to pretty wide daily fluctuations without harming their livestock.  2 KH tap is generally considered _to die for.  _Chasing a specific KH is just an unnecessary complication (some of the experts around here put it more bluntly...) unless your livestock or plants have very specific needs.  

Cheers,
Michael


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## Zulato (14 Dec 2021)

MichaelJ said:


> Hi @Zulato  Just curious to why you want to raise your KH? I run both my densely planted tanks in the 1-2 KH range. For a long time I was fixated on making sure my pH wouldn't fluctuate by increasing the buffer capacity in my tanks (aiming at ~5-7 KH). That was just until I realized that people who inject CO2 are subjecting their tanks to pretty wide daily fluctuations without harming their livestock.  2 KH tap is generally considered _to die for.  _Chasing a specific KH is just an unnecessary complication (some of the experts around here put it more bluntly...) unless your livestock or plants have very specific needs.
> 
> Cheers,
> Michael


Hi Michael,
Well the KH didn’t bother me too much until I started keeping GBR fish and most of the ones I had with kh 2 would die for different reasons within 2 months average. Then somebody mentioned about my kh and since I brought it up to around 4, my GBR stopped dying and the plants got a bit stronger (or so I thought )


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## dw1305 (14 Dec 2021)

Hi all,


Zulato said:


> Well the KH didn’t bother me too much until I started keeping GBR fish and most of the ones I had with kh 2 would die for different reasons within 2 months average. Then somebody mentioned about my kh and since I brought it up to around 4, my GBR stopped dying and the plants got a bit stronger (or so I thought )


By GBR I'm going to assume you keep "German Blue Rams" (_Mikrogeophagus ramirezi_)? I'm pleased to hear they are doing better now, because they are one of my <"all time favourite fishes">, and if I could find some <"good quality locally bred ones">? I would buy them <"in a heart beat">.

There are two main things about Rams:

One is the commercial stock is of <"*absolutely appalling quality**">*, and riddled with genetic defects, viral diseases and internal parasites, and the other is:
That they do best in *very soft, acidic, *warm water.
Because of that I'm going to assume that the last Rams you bought were slightly more robust than the ones you had before and raising the dKH, even though it actually made conditions less suitable, was just coincidental.

cheers Darrel


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## MichaelJ (14 Dec 2021)

dw1305 said:


> There are two main things about Rams:
> 
> One is the commercial stock is of <"*absolutely appalling quality**">*, and riddled with genetic defects, viral diseases and internal parasites, and the other is:


Yes Darrel, very true and very sad indeed. I am a big fan of Rams as well.  Part of the problem, in my opinion, is the demand from us hobbyists for these hyper-selectively (in)bred fish. Perhaps the best course of action to turn the tide is for us to stop demanding these fish or at least be extremely diligent about the source and reputation of the breeder and stock.  Over the years I've had German Blues and Goldens that would randomly perish on me in tanks with what I believe was very ideal for them. I currently have one pair of Golden Rams that are doing fine - they spawn regularly but the eggs never hatches which could be due to infertility caused by inbreeding.

Cheers,
Michael


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## sparkyweasel (15 Dec 2021)

I haven't seen any German Rams for years. But I see plenty of poor-quality far-eastern Rams _labelled _as German.


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