# testing .......



## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

OMG i hate freshwater testing    
i havent a clue anout gh/kh ..........
help................. .
i just screwed up the ph test and im flustered i just wanna pull out my SW test kit lmao
count the drops OMG and thats just when hubby turns the friggen lights out grrrrrrrr  
so now i have to do 2 tests over grrr
well i did get the nitrite test  0ppm....
but freshwater says -0mg/l
well im sticking with ppm lol
there is no chart to tell me what how many drops mean? 

then 1 drop means 1/2 dh ???? what the heck is dh???
ok i know when i get this its gonna be like duhhhh 
but i just did 9 waterchanges and planted for 2 hours and cleaned the equipment ..
emptied the 12 gl to replace substrate and my brain cant think lol
thanks for the help 
tetra testing kit


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Most GH/KH test kits work by titration. For most test kits, every drop of reagent you add to your water sample is equal to 1 dKH or 1 dGH (degree KH or degree GH, respectively. 1 German degree is equal to 17.9 mg/L or 17.9 ppm (ppm and mg/L are essentially interchangeable)).

It's good that your nitrite reading is 0 ppm (mg/L).


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

ok i get 
nitrite 0ppm
amm 0ppm 
nitrates 0ppm 
im fine with those tests 



so lets say 2 drops for gh thats 17.9 x2 and that will give me my reading?
and lets say kh is 8 drops that value would be 17.9 x 8 ?

could you explaing the other test .... o2
thanks


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

my friend is going to gonna borrow my SW test kit ...come up and show me how to use this test kit


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

blossom112 said:


> so lets say 2 drops for gh thats 17.9 x2 and that will give me my reading?
> and lets say kh is 8 drops that value would be 17.9 x 8 ?
> 
> could you explaing the other test .... o2
> thanks


Yes, this is correct. When using your GH test kit, if it takes 2 drops of reagent before your water sample changes colour (i.e. blue to yellow, or whatever colours the test kit uses), then your GH has a value of 2 degrees (2 dGH), or 35.8 ppm or 35.8 mg/L. Similar calculations can be carried out for your KH.

I can't really explain the O2 test kit to you, as I have never used one before. Best to read the instructions that came with your kit and go from there.


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

tysvm ... you have made it very clear to me


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

so i added 
8 drops that would = gh 143.2 mg/l or *dgh=8

and 5 to = kh 89.5 or *dkh=5

so from this testing i can assume my KH is 2 high and GH too low ?

could dousing affect testing *of course* thats it 

more research is needed for me lol


I notice too a lot of people get nitrate readings ..... this i have never experianced with saltwater or freshwater ????
people seem proud to say rates 10ppm ....... but in my eyes it should be 0ppm .
or am i getting this wrong ..
When i learned sw i was told all should be 0ppm and if they didnt i needed to take better care with waterchanges .

perfect water = happy healthy fish ........


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

blossom112 said:


> so i added
> 8 drops that would = gh 143.2 mg/l or *dgh=8
> 
> and 5 to = kh 89.5 or *dkh=5
> ...


A gH of 8 and a kH of 5 is pretty typical for GTA water, if I remember correctly. It's fine in most cases, so don't worry too much about it.



blossom112 said:


> could dousing affect testing *of course* thats it


Dousing? Or dosing? Dosing fertilizers should not affect the gH or kH tests, however, there are other compounds that can affect them. This is the reason why when using a CO2 drop checker, a known 4 dkH solution should be prepared and used (to eliminate any extraneous factors that might affect the kH of the reference solution). This way, you know that the amount of CO2 in the aquarium water as indicated by the drop checker is accurate.



blossom112 said:


> I notice too a lot of people get nitrate readings ..... this i have never experianced with saltwater or freshwater ????
> people seem proud to say rates 10ppm ....... but in my eyes it should be 0ppm .
> or am i getting this wrong ..
> When i learned sw i was told all should be 0ppm and if they didnt i needed to take better care with waterchanges .


I have never had a salt water tank, so I can't comment on that side. However, the rule of 0 ppm for nitrates in a fresh water tank is only true if you have a non-planted, fish-only tank. The low nitrates and phosphates would be desired in order to prevent algal out breaks.

However, in planted tanks, plants require nitrogen (usually in the form of nitrates, but ammonium can also be used, and in fact, is preferentially used up over nitrate. But then again, you don't want ammonium in a tank with fish), and as such, you want to keep the nitrates level between 5 - 10 ppm. Phosphates should also be kept at about 1-2 ppm. While it may seem contraindicative to add phosphates and nitrates to a planted tank, in reality, the higher plants will outcompete algae for the nutrients (provided they have good light and CO2 in addition to the fertilizers).


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

*high5*
I am so glad i was able to pick your brain!!!!!!!!!!!
TY so very much!!!!!!!!!!
your very smart and word it just right for me 

tyvm  

my typical thing to say to people like you *your awesome*


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