Re: [AGA Member] Raising GH

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

If all you're trying to do is raise KH to counter act the
fact that the added CO2 will lower you pH, then you can
just use baking soda -- very easy to get, very very cheap,
works just fine at raising KH. IT dissolves readily in
water and is easy to measure.

If yo think you have a calcium shortage you can use calcium
carbonate instead. It raises KH *and* GH both. You can get
it at www.litemanu.com --  Look for the nutrients and
chemicals page there. It's very inexpensive--a pound will
last for ages. Or you can look for calcium carbonate on the
Beer brewing web sites -- a lot of them sell it too.

Calcium carbonate doesn't dissolve as readily in water so
your tank will probably cloud up for half a day. It's
harder to measure because the powder can pack -- but not
terribly so.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) you can get at any
supermaket for a few coins per box.

You can find out more about this stuff at George and Karla
Booth's excellent web site -- see the tech brief on water
chemistry:

http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/Articles/Water_Chemistry.htm

It tells you how much to add and what the effect on GH, KH
will be.

With a KH test kit and pH test kit and the KH/pH/CO2 table,
you can figure out how much CO2 you have in your water. YOu
can read all about that too on George and Karla Booth's
excellent web site -- homepage at:

http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/

Good luck, good fun,

Scott H.
--- Randy Pullen <rpullen@waterpik.com> wrote:
> I am new to this hobby so please forgive my niave
> question. I am adding
> CO2, (one bubble per second) 2.5 watts per
> gallon,(considering going up
> to 3.3) 6.8 PH and 3 degrees GH. 38 Gallon tank. I only
> have a GH test
> kit which indicates 3 degrees. I am interested in
> increasing my GH (and
> KH?). Do I understand correctly that 5dGH is the target?
> I am not sure of when to add sodium bicarbonate or
> calcium carbonate. I
> attempted to add calcium carbonate via. two calcium
> vitamin pills. I did
> not measure a difference after one hour. 
> Also what about seachem equilibrium? When and why should
> I use this
> product?
> Do I really need a KH test kit also?
> Thanks,
> Randy


=====
S. Hieber
-  -   -   -   -   -   -   -
Aquascaping by Takashi Amano and more at
the AGA 2004 Annual Convention
Nov 12, 13 & 14; Marriott Crystal Gateway, Arlington, Virginia, USA
Aquatic Gardeners Association www.aquatic-gardeners.org

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