GH, how to raise it and best calues

[i.]

Hi, I've been testing my tapwater for KH and GH values and found out that they are both at zero in my area. I found a product for KH and slowly raised it to 6 but I found no product that can help me with GH. Does anyone know of something that could help me raise this value?
Also I wondered if anyone knows the best KH and GH values for the water of the species spanish ribbed newts and paddletails (labiatus)
thank you

 

[jennifer]

If GH is general hardness (calcium?), then you can add calcium carbonate to the tank and some of it will dissolve. I had problems with soft water causing my pH to run acidic and was able to fix this by adding a bit of "Calci-Sand" (a reptile product) to the filter. I have no idea if this changed the GH, as I wasn't testing it. But it fixed my pH problem and it is a safe way to add calcium to your tank water. Limestone is another source of calcium carbonate, if you happen to have any locally.

I have no idea what the best values are, and I'm not sure anyone knows this, especially not for labiatus. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most newts can adapt to a wide range of water pH, hardness, etc.

 

[i.]

Is calcium carbonate like cow brand for baking?
I read of aquarists using this for fish and they seemed to think it's harmless. I have put in limestone already and it has helped stabilize my PH but it has not affected the GH much (strange).
I thank you, I will look into calci-sand as well. As for the values, I'll put it at the average recommended for fish, in any case that should be better for them than no calcium at all.
thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

[edward]

Is your water passing through a water softener? If your water is going through the water softener then there should be a bypass or a faucet that is not hooked up to your softner. If you check that water it will probably be usable for your newts.

Ed

 

[i.]

Interesting, I'm not aware of such a device on my faucet but I'll check it out.
thanks!

-Isa

 

[kai]

Hmm, some carbonates are usually added to very pure waters by the water supplier to avoid corrosion - are you sure the kits are ok (expiry date?) and that you're using them correctly? Your local water supplier should be able to provide you with a reasonably complete analysis of the tapwater.

Commercial softeners for household tapwater would eliminate GH but leave KH of the source tapwater unchanged.

Some Pachytriton habitats are in limestone regions and high Ca++/Mg++ levels wouldn't be surprising (although levels can decrease significantly during the rainy season). However, there seems to be no evidence that high GH is necessary with these as well as with Pleurodeles. I'd posit that just adding limestone gravel to the tank and/or filter should be sufficient (especially to avoid acid water). If your tank water doesn't have a large surplus of dissolved carbon dioxide, only little amounts of limestone will dissolve and the GH will rise (possibly very) slowly but that's ok. Stay away from commercial products which promise to raise either KH or GH - these are rubbish (from a biological/physiological point of view).

 

[i.]

Thank you for the thorough answer, it seems I have some homework to do researching the local water treatment. I will get new testing chemicals too, it's true that my kit has over a year of age.
I will stick to the limestone for sure, it has stabilised my PH wonderfully.
thank you

-Isa

 

[kai]

Hi Isa,

You're welcome. BTW, both water "hardness" measurements rely on fairly stable reagents so discarding them may only be necessary after you receive a more authorative (and widely diverging) analysis of your tapwater... Analysis problems can sometimes be avoided if one measures the double amount of water as given in the kit (of course, this needs to be compensated for in the final calculation).