kh

[heartben]

i was told i should get an alk. test.

when i went to look for one they all said alk and hardness so i found a kh test (which was listed on the other boxes)

is kh and alk the same thing?

thanks
-ben

 

[waverz]

Ben, maybe i should interest you in the reef chemistry forum.

It will definitely answer all of your water chemistry answers.

Happy reading....

 

[Double-J]

they are the same thing. Alk is measured in three ways
1)meq
2)DKH
3)PPM

They all equal the same but different test kits might give you the result in PPM vs. DKH

Ex. 8 DKH= 2.86 MEQ or 143 ppm

Ive used two different types of ALK test kits; Salifert and Lamotte. Both are accurate with each other and are easy to use compared to some of the other tests.

 

[heartben]

thank you! we found some kh tests at petco for 98 cents so we got a couple of em.. they seem kind of complicated though, you have to count the drops until it turns i think yellow...i dont fully get it but..whatever.

what should be a good range to shoot for?

 

[Double-J]

Anywhere from 8-11 DKH is probably average. Here is a link to a conversion chart:
http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/AlkConv.php

 

[heartben]

happen to know how i can lower it a little bit? :-D its a smidge high...

 

[Nanemene]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11038488#post11038488 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by heartben
thank you! we found some kh tests at petco for 98 cents so we got a couple of em.. they seem kind of complicated though, you have to count the drops until it turns i think yellow...i dont fully get it but..whatever.

what should be a good range to shoot for?

Ha! I saw those tests in the display at the front of the Waterloo Petco a few weeks back. I passed, only because I didn't feel like testing for KH.

 

[heartben]

yep! we got 3 of them... its a pain in the but though. add drop.. shake, add drop, shake...etc

 

[ReefFreak3652]

add drop.. shake, add drop, shake, ...until it turns a different color, get used to that method, thats the case with most test kits. A good water change always brings the parameters back in check "if not close to."

 

[heartben]

haha, out of all the tests we have 3 of them are ones you have to shake for awhile but this is the only one where you add one drop and then shake it, then add one drop...

you know... bleh.

so, water change!

btw. what would be something i should keep in mind as far as gallons of water change per : insert advice:

like.. 5 gallons a week? every other?

we have a 55 gallon tank, im sure that info would help!


thanks!

 

[ReefFreak3652]

As a general rule about 30% a month. You can break that up however you want...weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Smaller frequent water changes cause less fluctuation in water parameters (which is good.)

 

[Nanemene]

I do about 30-40% a month, and I spread that over as many separate 5 gallon changes as I can. It does get tedious, but I think I keep nasty stuff out of my tank alot better this way.

 

[jtesdall]

The amount of water changes and frequency will also depend on fish load and current parameters, especially nitrate.

 

[leeweber85]

those sound like the Aquarium Pharmaceutical test kits. They are fairly accurate.