# Increasing GH



## H.. (7 May 2020)

Hi chemists

I have this soft tapwater of total hardnes of 2,4 according to the analysis report at my municipas homepage.
And also my testkit say 2. (2drops) 

I want to increase the total hardnes due to see if my crystalshrimps will do better. I would like to aim at around GH5 to see if the small ones will survive better then.

I have CaCl2, and MgSO4 to provide the water. and also sodium bicarbonate if this will increase GH

I have found pages that say how many ppm it will increase if added, but nothing about degrees of GH.

What should I add? Both Ca, and Mg. Or just one of each, or non of them, but something else?

Please help me with recepies to increase the GH.

H


----------



## Zeus. (7 May 2020)

What size tank do you have?

My Fert Calculator does all the Calculations for GH for the salts you can use


----------



## Witcher (7 May 2020)

To raise gH in 100l tank by 1 deg you need:

4.1g of MgSO4x6H2O (4.3ppm of Mg and 17.2ppm of SO4)

or 

2g of CaCl (7.2ppm of Ca and 12.8ppm of Cl)

or percentage mixture of both if you want to keep certain proportions between Ca and Mg (usually 4:1 or 3:1 Ca:Mg).



To raise kH in 100l tank by 1 deg you need:

3g of NaHCO3 (8.2ppm of Na and 21.8 ppm of HCO3)



@Zeus. calc will definitely help you with fine tuning of the mixtures.


----------



## Oldguy (7 May 2020)

H.. said:


> Hi chemists



General & total hardness are measured as if the hardness was *all* due to calcium carbonate, not that useful but we are stuck with it. I must prefer parts per million (ppm) which is very useful as it can be taken that mg per litre are ppm.

Temporary hardness is due to Gp II elements present as bicarbonates (hydrogen carbonates), thermally unstable and decompose to the carbonate (typically insoluble) water and carbon dioxide. Personally I find alkalinity to be a better measure of pH and ppm of Ca & Mg.

For your convenience:

dH                                                               ppm Calcium carbonate equivalent                                        Considered as
3                                                                           0 - 50                                                                             Soft
3 - 6                                                                      50 - 100                                                                         Moderately soft
6 - 12                                                                  100 -  200                                                                        Slightly soft
12 - 18                                                                 200 - 300                                                                        Moderately hard
18 - 20                                                                 300 - 450                                                                        Hard
Over 25                                                                over 450                                                                         Very hard

Typically most people aim for 2/3rds Ca and 1/3 Mg for hardness. These ratios are often found in natural waters but not always. It depends on the geology of the water catchment.

Sodium and other Gp I compounds will not add hardness.

Remember when you add your ionic chemicals to water they will just be a mixture of ions in solution.  

Personally I would search the net  for shrimp water requirements and use @ Zeus for his calculator.   Unfortunately I have no experience with crystal shrimps. I keep cherries and amonos at about 50 to 100 ppm.

All best wishes


----------



## H.. (7 May 2020)

Witcher said:


> To raise gH in 100l tank by 1 deg you need:
> 
> 4.1g of MgSO4x6H2O (4.3ppm of Mg and 17.2ppm of SO4)
> 
> ...



Thanks Witcher, this is probably just what I was looking for. I will try this right away.

And the Ca/Mg ratio in my tapwater is 15ppm Ca, and 1ppm Mg, perhaps i can add some more Mg than Calcium due to this

H


----------



## Zeus. (7 May 2020)

H.. said:


> the Ca/Mg ratio in my tapwater is 15ppm Ca, and 1ppm Mg, perhaps i can add some more Mg than Calcium due to this



Can use my calculator to work it out, enter your tap water details, WC volume, tank details and it works out what you have added, enter your Target ppm for Mg and Ca and gives you the amount of salts to add to fert mix or dry dosing direct 

So for 50% WC


----------



## H.. (11 May 2020)

Hi again. 

Tryed to raise Gh this weekend. Slowly raising and testing once every day.

GH was at 2 in the start in my three tanks at 100 liter and raised them with:
#1, 15ml Ca only, and raised to 5
#2, 15ml Mg only, and raised to 4
#3, 15ml Ca and 15ml Mg.  raised to 7.

Testkit was new and I was confident it would work well, and raise GH according to numbers above. 
Not quite what was predicted, with above calculations.

H


----------



## dw1305 (12 May 2020)

Hi all, 





H.. said:


> Testkit was new and I was confident it would work well, and raise GH according to numbers above.
> Not quite what was predicted, with above calculations.


You know how much of each compound you've added, and how they will change the water chemistry. If the test kit gives you a different answer,  any inaccuracy lies with the test kit. 

You can construct a <"standard curve"> and that would give you some measure of the difference between measured and theoretical values. 

cheers Darrel


----------

