Carbonate Hardness - your thoughts please.

[Bill T.]

Who out there uses Carbonate Hardness to buffer pH? I started using it about 3 months ago after advice from lfs with no apparent problems.

[Merrilyn]

Hi Bill. I use a handfull of shellgrit in the bottom of all the tanks, except the spawning tanks. Works well. Without it Melbourne water is sooo soft there is always a danger of pH crash.

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Bill/Merrilyn,

What is the Kh of Melbourne water, how soft is it?

We live on the Sunshine Coast, Qld and our water has a KH of between 1 and 3 depending on Council treatments. We do nothing to buffer the water and I'm continually surprised that it remains so stable and especially because we use Hydrochloric to lower the Ph. It sometimes comes out of the tap at 8 and over and I prefer it lower than that.

Have you any idea why it would remain so stable, at most it moves .1 or .2 over 48 hours, at high temperatures and lots of air.

Believe me I'm not complaining, just interested.
MAC

[Merrilyn]

MAC my water comes out of the tap at KH 1 with a pH of 7.2 which will drop to 6.8 on standing. Ideal for spawning, but crashes are a very real danger.

[pitchblack]

i agree with merrilyn the water in my neck of the woods in melb comes out as 1dh for kh and the ph is at 7.0. I use a kh booster to keep the kh at 100ppm got that advice from the my LFS when the plant guy came in and told me some of his secrets. But the kh and ph go hand in hand