Not ideal water parameters

[jacopo16]

Hello guys,
I need a bit of help.
Just finished to test my aquarium water and those were the results:
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 1 mg/l
KH 200ppm
GH 350ppm
Nitrate 40-80 mg/l
Iron 0

Now the questions..
1) Can high GH be the cause of BBA? Also should I get worried for KH and GH being so high?
2) nitrates seems to high, shall I do something about it?
3) iron 0 - I suspect this is the cause of my struggling with Alternanthera reineckii Rosanervig. I bought one off ebay to dissolve in RO water but it seems it isn’t doing his kob

Thank you in advance

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Just finished to test my aquarium water and those were the results:
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 1 mg/l
KH 200ppm
GH 350ppm
Nitrate 40-80 mg/l
Iron 0

Those won't be accurate, but they are probably in the <"right ball-park">. So basically <"hard, alkaline">, nutrient rich water <"Some handy facts about water">. What does your water supplier say? They have an analytical lab., so will be able to give you more accurate results.

The reason I can say in the right ball-park are because you live in London and your water will have come from a chalk aquifer (even if it has sat in reservoir for a while, or come from the river Thames or Lea etc) and this means that it will have ~17dGH (nearly all calcium (Ca)) and 17 dKH (you can convert backwards and forwards using the Lenntech converter <"water-hardness">). The hardness and alkalinity values you've got aren't right, they are too high, but you will have about 120 ppm (mg/ L) Ca for geological reasons.

I know it isn't a possibility for every-one, but might rainwater be an option? Otherwise it is buying (or making) RO water, if you want softer water.

Can high GH be the cause of BBA? Also should I get worried for KH and GH being so high?

We don't really know <"what causes BBA">, it seems to occur in a lot of conditions, so I'm going to say high dGH isn't a major factor. Lots of plants and fish <"do well in hard water">, although some don't.

nitrates seems to high, shall I do something about it?

<"Lots of floating plants">? They are remarkably effective at <"reducing fixed nitrogen levels">.

iron 0

Have a look at <"Pink tint">.

cheers Darrel

 

[MichaelJ]

1) Can high GH be the cause of BBA? Also should I get worried for KH and GH being so high?

Most BBA issues are associated with imbalance - light vs. CO2 vs. nutrients. Poor CO2 distribution/application in particular if your injecting CO2. I don't think hard water by itself can be the cause - it may exacerbate the problem if the plants are already struggling due to a somewhat reduced ability to take up nutrients in hard water. It's definitely possible to keep a beautiful algae-free planted aquarium with hard water (lots of plants in the easy category will do fine), it may just take a bit more considerations in terms of fertilizer choices - in particular trace minerals and chelates. As for fish / livestock, very hard water (~17 GH/KH) is not ideal - lowering your hardness will improve the wellbeing of your livestock if they originate from soft water habitats.

Cheers,
Michael