rising kh and ph

[Corie Dora]

My ph has risen from 7.4 to 7.6 and my kh from 71.6 (4) to 107.4 (6) over the last week.

I'm sure that everything inside is inert. Some of the equipment and the substrate was previously in a hard water tank...perhaps a small amount of calcification on those things is enough to drive this (the tank has only been up for a week).

Also, I have been using flora care plant grow and kent freshwater plant. I've never used the plant grow before and I just tested it and it has a high kh, perhaps that is driving it as well?

I'm feeding frozen bloodworms and hikari sinking catfish tablets.

I've never had this happen before; any insights would be appreciated

Thanks,
Corie =^..^=

 

[aspen]

kh rises due to some substance being added to the water. there is either this case, or your tests are off. maybe check a little more carefully? i've not had a problem using ferts, there doesn't seem to be much in them which will affect kh.

rick

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Sounds like your tank is not yet cycled in. Up and running for only one week and already in full swing feeding bloodworms and tablets? You may want to give your setup some more time to equilibrate.

 

[Corie Dora]

hmm I'm not sure. I've only got 7 small fish in it, and they do need to be fed!

I'm only feeding as much as they need....also I've always been under the impression that if you fully stock a tank with plants from the get-go there is no cycling. My tank has read 0 for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates since day 1. I believe the plants would consume anything produced. I'm actually planning on adding nitrogen into the system once my co2 is hooked up.

Further more on the cycling, I used filter media and some water from an established tank during setup of this tank.

I've never paid alot of attention to the kh during the initial setup period as its never really fluctuated for me before. Is it somehow connected to the nitrogen cycle?

On the plus side, the kh did not rise any further over the weekend. I will be correcting with pure water in the next few days.

 

[aspen]

>>'I've never paid alot of attention to the kh during the initial setup period as its never really fluctuated for me before. Is it somehow connected to the nitrogen cycle?'

that would be an unqualified 'no' imo.

>>'also I've always been under the impression that if you fully stock a tank with plants from the get-go there is no cycling.'

i've done what you have done many times and rarely had a problem with ammonia. but it wouldn't surprise me to see things going on that you might be surprised to find in an established set-up.

i wonder if a small amount of (bi-)carbonate material, like snail shells or something like that is in the gravel? anyway, it IS curious, but maybe nature has taken it's course for the moment.

when you say that your ph has risen over the past week, do you mean that you MAY have tested it before the gasses in the water had out-gassed, then later after they had done so? remember, acidifying gasses will show up as 'kh' on a test kit, because most kh test kits measure alkalinity, not carbonate hardness. there is much written on this in the krib. in this case, your kh kit would show a rise, as would your ph kit or meter.

rick