# How do I lower gH and kH ?



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

I've been reading that the ideal water parameters to breed CRS are

ph: 6.2-6.8
gH: 3-5 
kH: 0-1

My existing parameters are: using tap water + conditioner
ph: 6.2
gh: 8
kh: 3

My question is, I have only had my CRS for a week now in this tank. Will they breed successfully in such a high gH and high kH water? How do I go about safetly lowering these? I may be mistaken but I read a slow water change using RO water will lower these numbers. Ive also read that having a decent kH is required to maintain pH stablility in CO2 injected tanks. 

How slow do I need to do this? Every week start using 70% RO 30% tap? and drip? or start dripping 100% RO on water changes every week? I read TDS drop alot when using when using RO and that TDS changes kill shrimplets. 

Tank data:
25 gallon
CO2 injection
ada amazonia 2

Can CRS breed in kH of 3?


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

GH is best lowered by using RO or RODI water mixed with tap water to get it where you want it. KH can be done the same way, but KH can also be lowered by boiling the water.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

awesome, do you know the cheapest/best way to get RO water? I will be moving homes in afew months so I dont want a perm solution. I may just go buy some at walmart but wont that get expensive?

My tank is 25G, how much % of RO must be to bring my gH and kH down?


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Symplicity said:


> awesome, do you know the cheapest/best way to get RO water? I will be moving homes in afew months so I dont want a perm solution. I may just go buy some at walmart but wont that get expensive?
> 
> My tank is 25G, how much % of RO must be to bring my gH and kH down?


I imagine if you mix 50% RO with 50% tap you will get a 50% reduction in GH, not sure about kH, but probably. Walmart RO should be ok, but of course an aquarium store is a safer bet for quality RO water. Buying at walmart will most definately get expensive, but thats how its done.

What I would do is start doing small (5 gallon) water changes with just RO to replace the water you take out; that should slowly lower the GH.

If you want an inexpensive RO, try bulkreefsupply.com, they have a $75.00 "enterprise" model; its a very low cost RO unit, their shipping fees are low, and there are no hidden border fee's.

Whatever you do, do it SLOWLY. Also, realize that your shrimp will probably be perfectly fine in normal tap water


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

acropora1981 said:


> I imagine if you mix 50% RO with 50% tap you will get a 50% reduction in GH, not sure about kH, but probably. Walmart RO should be ok, but of course an aquarium store is a safer bet for quality RO water. Buying at walmart will most definately get expensive, but thats how its done.
> 
> What I would do is start doing small (5 gallon) water changes with just RO to replace the water you take out; that should slowly lower the GH.
> 
> ...


Thanks ill check it out! Keeping CRS in my params is fine. But to get them to breed and keep the baby shrimplets alive requires proper params. (from what I read) I will try abit of 50% RO change on my Sunday soooo probably 5G RO + 5G tap. I will measure TDS, GH, PH before and after and slowly drip new water in over 8 hrs time. Will re-measure and see if gH dropped or if TDS shifted too much.

TDS pen should arrive by next week.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Symplicity said:


> Thanks ill check it out! Keeping CRS in my params is fine. But to get them to breed and keep the baby shrimplets alive requires proper params. (from what I read) I will try abit of 50% RO change on my Sunday soooo probably 5G RO + 5G tap. I will measure TDS, GH, PH before and after and slowly drip new water in over 8 hrs time. Will re-measure and see if gH dropped or if TDS shifted too much.
> 
> TDS pen should arrive by next week.


Dont do a water change with 50/50... its pointless right now. For now, until you get your GH down, use 100% RO for the change, and then use RO for your evaporation top off as well. Otherwise it will take you WAY too long to get the Gh down. Once you get it to the right level, then you use 50/50 or whatever to maintain the lower GH for water changes, and use 100% RO for evaporative loss.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Can anyone recommend the cheapest/best value RO water to buy in jugs? 
Do you buy at walmart, costco, big als?

I am moving in 5 months and do not want to install an RO/DI unit in my home, only to leave it when I move/uninstall it. Will def get one when I move as the water up north is really bad where I am moving.

Anyone also know how much TDS drop when adding 10% RO/DI water and how much GH drops? Will a 24hr drip be sufficient to acclimate the change in PPM and gH?


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Symplicity said:


> Can anyone recommend the cheapest/best value RO water to buy in jugs?
> Do you buy at walmart, costco, big als?
> 
> I am moving in 5 months and do not want to install an RO/DI unit in my home, only to leave it when I move/uninstall it. Will def get one when I move as the water up north is really bad where I am moving.
> ...


I goto Canadian Tire and use their water. I'm not sure about Walmarts but CT's comes out at 3-4ppm for TDS, so pretty much 0.

It's basic math, if you water is 200tds and gh of 8, and you do 50/50, it would end up 100tds, 4gh. If you did 75tap/25ro, you would end up with 150tds, gh 6.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Thanks! Didnt think the change would be so easy to calculate.

P.s I've read so many responses and threads by you on shrimpnow and plantedtank, as google likes to refer to u a lot when I search. Lol ur name looked so familiar until I made the connection.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Symplicity said:


> Thanks! Didnt think the change would be so easy to calculate.
> 
> P.s I've read so many responses and threads by you on shrimpnow and plantedtank, as google likes to refer to u a lot when I search. Lol ur name looked so familiar until I made the connection.


hehehe. It's easy to calculate when you're adding something with 0/0/0 params.

Just over a year ago, I got a few cherry shrimp because I thought they were cute and put them in a fish tank. Now 10 tanks later.... lol.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

loool 10 tanks later and your a CRS god.

same here. i started with afew cherries. now working on CRS. Once i get low grade CRS to breed and keep babies alive. Ill step up to higher grades. 

gonna go to canadian tire tonight and buy 5-10G of RO water and drip some over 48 hrs  

cant wait for my TDS meter and mineral rock to arrive


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Hi, where are you getting the mineral rock? Which type?


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Symplicity said:


> loool 10 tanks later and your a CRS god.
> 
> same here. i started with afew cherries. now working on CRS. Once i get low grade CRS to breed and keep babies alive. Ill step up to higher grades.
> 
> ...


Thanks, but no shrimp god. Far from it. lol. Just paid lots of attention in my readings, and most importantly, rather than playing any numbers game and thinking I need something exact because a site says, I watch my shrimp and learn from them.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

randy said:


> Hi, where are you getting the mineral rock? Which type?


O purchased this

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mineral-Rock...554?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41518242f2


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Interesting.... I got one from AI, said to be Montmorillonite rock. Should be the same thing or very similar. Can't remember the price though.


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

Symplicity said:


> My existing parameters are: using tap water + conditioner
> ph: 6.2
> gh: 8
> kh: 3


Watch your Co2 injection. From your posted water parameters, your CO2 level is around 57 ppm which is considered high. Be carefull not to kill your shrimp.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Really? My drop checker is green and I'm doing 1 bps.... My ph actually looks more like 6.6ph tbh guess it raised ... As I did now lower my co2....

Can u share site with calc?


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

Here is the site with "Chucks Aquarium Calculator". Click on the link below. It will take you to another page and on the bottom right click "impatient?". It will then take you to the download page. Download link is near the bottom of the page.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060203055136/http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_aquacalc.htm

Once installed, go to the C02 tab and enter in your PH & Kh and it will tell you your Co2 level. (ppm)

Hope this helps.

Brian


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Evans11 said:


> Here is the site with "Chucks Aquarium Calculator". Click on the link below. It will take you to another page and on the bottom right click "impatient?". It will then take you to the download page. Download link is near the bottom of the page.
> 
> http://web.archive.org/web/20060203055136/http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_aquacalc.htm
> 
> ...


The reason we use drop checkers is because this method has been shown to be highly innaccurate.


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

acropora1981 said:


> The reason we use drop checkers is because this method has been shown to be highly innaccurate.


I use a drop checker primarily as well but I use the calculator along with it. 
I like my Co2 level around 40ppm. By only using the drop checker, I wouldn't know if my level was 40ppm or 140ppm as both are indicated by "yellow" in the drop checker. One is safe for my fish and the other would kill them. Same goes with the "Green" which would only indicate a range of 20ppm to approx 38ppm. When dealing with shrimp I would recommend using both together as they are more sensitive but its up to you.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

If your using co2 you NEED to add an air pump with an air stone preferably a double songe filter.

Yours paras look fine. This is a classic case of changing a few params here and there and doing more harm then good.

You are actually 3 times better off to leave the tank as is and let it stabalize. You babies will come and in great numbers after a few months. If you change your params now you'll have to wait even longer for the water to stabalize.


Btw walmart, tnt, and cnd tire all have ro water.

Thus far I find walmart is the best quality and cheapest. It's a brand name Culligan and their techs service the machines every month. They even write the date of filter change/inspection on the machine. 2.99 for 18.9L


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