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So how hard *is* my water?
My new tanks are filled with RO/DI water reconstituted with Kent Marine's
RO Right, but the results I am getting from it are not at all what I am
expecting. Perhaps someone can give some guidance...
The jar of ROR says that 2 teaspoons/ten gallons will yield "Medium hard"
water. In one tank which I'll use as an example, I have used several times
that much and still my aquarium pharmaceuticals GH test reports a hardness
of 5.
(This post, and my call to Kent, are because I want a GH of 7 in that tank
and I am concerned that I have added too much already).
So I called Kent, and was told that "Medium hard" means 210 ppm, and that
100 ppm is one degree of GH. They also told me that the hardness test kits
typically will not show most of that because they do not measure all of the
GH contributing chemicals in ROR.
The Kent fellow I spoke to was not able to suggest a reliable test kit, but
was a big fan of using TDS or conductivity meters. You may recall I
recently posted that I had bought one. :)
My meter reports 680 uS on this tank. Kent says to multiply by .8 for
numbers in this range to get 544 ppm tds. Dividing by 200 and multiplying
by 11 I calculate that I've got a hardness of just under 30 in my soft
water tank. I don't even want to *think* about my hard water tank.
Help!
How do I get this under control when I can't (apparently) even get a
measurement on what is there now? According to the AP test I need to add
hardness. According to the KM's interpretation of my conductivity test I'd
better start doing water changes pronto.
What now?
Frustrated in Ottawa.
-----
The very act of seeking sets something in motion to meet us;
something in the universe, or in the unconscious responds as if
to an invitation. - Jean Shinoda Bolen
http://home.istar.ca/~fir