Hello!

I was experiencing some issues with my goldies, and Suey recommended I look at my KH and GH. Well spotted, Suey!

My KH was 89.6 and my GH was 107.6, which from what I'm reading, is pretty poor for goldies.

I bought JBL Aquadur (it was all the LFS had at short notice) to try rectify this, as my poor goldies were in a bit of a bad way.

I did an 80L water change, adding the recommended amount to increase the levels.
This leaves me with a KH of 125.51 and a GH of 107.6 (no change) as of this evening, which was a bit more of a bump than I expected, 2 degrees overnight, which I'm guessing was too much too soon.

While my goldies are much improved, I need to know what levels I should be at, and how best to achieve them, with minimal upset to the fishes.

Hi

Not familiar with that product so I've had a quick look. JBL make a number of variants of this product and they've recently changed the formulations and updated the packaging so I need to know which you have.

Have a look at this PDF from JBL detailing the products and let me know which you have.

Whilst we await that info, this may help a tad

KH simply buffers/raises the pH. At a reading of 4-5ppm, it should keep pH fairly stable (i.e. not likely to fall) but you can add KH to increase pH to the goldies favoured requirements. I try to keep mine at around pH 7.6.

GH does not affect the pH just the health of the fish. For goldies the ideal range is 6-16 dGH (slightly hard - moderately hard)

Chart here:

Water Hardness (GH) : Terms and Conversion

mg/l CaC03 / oDegrees of Hardness / Described as:

0 - 50 / 0 - 3 / soft
50 - 100 / 3 - 6 / fairly soft
100 – 200 / 6 - 12 / slightly hard
200 - 300 / 12 - 18 / moderately hard
300 - 540 / 18 - 30 / hard
540 plus / 30 plus / very hard

I now use Bicarb and Epsom Salts (was using Seachem Gold Trace but found it hard to source at some places) with some crushed shell in the filter. A bit more fiddling each week when sorting the new water but think I have it sorted now.

The one I was given was JBL AquaDur M/T (old) water conditioning salt
for East African cichlids - so the old one.

Hmm, okay so this product is raising the KH but not the GH, but I would really need the GH raised, I think?

Yes, a little

I realised when I first got the fancies that my (then) lower GH was affecting their slime coat a bit. Problem was solved quickly when GH was gradually increased over a few days.

Epsom salts from the chemist (about £3 for a bottle) could be used for the GH issue whilst you run the other powder dry - seems a shame to bin it whilst you have some supply left. Then perhaps reconsider how you buffer all of these when you are closer to the point of running out.

I do have a bucket of Epsom salts here somewhere, hmm - when I say "I do" I mean "Mr S has" but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, and if it does, then he won't have any epsom salts to ease it anyway.

I'm wary of mucking about too much with the water, but it really is unsuitable out of the taps for goldies. What way should I use the epsom salt?

OK, that one (because it's for EA Cichlids) raises kH dramatically. You do need to up the gH too and 10 dGH makes a good mid-ground level for Goldies (180 ppm).

There are many products available, but the two I use are by Seachem. Equilibrium is a powder based gH additive more suited to planted tanks and Replenish isn't optimised for plants and is easier to dose as it's a liquid. 16g (1 tablespoon) of Equilibrium will raise the gH of 80 litres of water by 3 dGH or 5ml of Replenish with increase the gH of 40 litres of water by 2.8 GH.

You need to raise the gH by 4 degrees to get where you need to be. So 1.3 tablespoons of Equilibrium per 80 litres OR 7.5ml of Replenish per 40 litres will do the trick, though o it gradually via water changes. Aquacadabra stock both, so might be worth ordering from there using the members' discount.

For kH, use the JBL Aquaur for now, but when t runs out switch the Bicarbonate of Soda - it's an awful lot cheaper and will do the same job

Any problems, questions, just give me a shout

Unfortunately they don't ship to Ireland, that's a shame :(

It's hard to get Seachem since they took all their stuff off Amazon etc, but I'll get some somewhere!

Is there anything I can use in the meantime to bring it up, or am I better off waiting and doing it properly?

You don't have to wait.

Epsom salts will do the trick to raise the GH See chemist, about £3 a bottle. I am doing the same right now.

How much do I add? I presume I want to take this slowly, and not have fizzy fishes!