[APD] RE: water parameters changed

["Thomas Barr" <tcbiii at earthlink_net>]

"1) Normal kh is 7-8, now reading 3"

 Your tap is still the same? 7-8?
Tap will change through the season in many areas.

"2) Nitrates normal 5-10ppm, now fail to read on my
test (even at 0ppm, my test turns the water yellow --
water now stays perfectly clear).
3) Co2 injection on both, but now my ph has gone from
6.9 down to 6.2 (which is because the kh is lower), so
co2 levels have also changed."

Has it or just the KH?
Check and see.

"65 gallon, dosing each element every other day:
______
10ml TMG
1/2 tsp stump remover for nitrate
1ml Fleet enema for phosphate
1 capful Seachem potassium
50% water change weekly
______
10 gallon, same thing, dosing each element every other
day, as close as I can get to 1/6th of above amounts.
______

I understand why my ph is down.  What I don't
understand is which of these elements would make my kh
drop and cause my nitrate test to fail to work.  And
how do I solve this?"

The KH is your tap water has changed, that's cause the pH drop.
NO3, perhaps the test it bad. I've never found NO3 test kits to be useful
unless they were high quality. 

"I should note that since the kh of my tap water is
always 0, I have added bags of crushed coral to each
of my filters to boost the kh up and I have not
removed or changed either of them as until now, the kh
remains quite stable.  Without them, the kh of my
tanks is also 0.  My water parameters have changed
since a) I changed my dosing schedule and amounts
dosed, which I did after b) a one week break in co2
injection for repairs.  This all happened over a 2
week period. "

Try using baking soda for KH and CaCl2/MgSO4 for GH.
  These dissolve fast.
This will give you control over the KH/GH and allow you to cover your bases
well.

"Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated!
Valerie"

Regards, 
Tom Barr

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