KH and CRS

[Deep6]

Hi guys, I'm a little confused about KH and RO water. I've seen a lot of places that say you should have a KH of 4 to prevent PH swings in the tank. Even if using Aquasoil, the buffering only lasts for a certain length of time before wearing out, and many other substrates don't provide any buffering.

I've seen others post that CRS won't breed if the KH is above 1. Any truth to this?

Should I be using baking soda or simliar to raise the KH to 4 to prevent PH swings, or just leave it at 0?

I know there are other threads about water parameters, but I thought I'd start one just talking about KH and its affect on CRS.

[silane]

I couldnt find a good way to control the 3 factors, pH, GH and kH. For me, as long as pH and GH are in, I am ok.

[Navanod]

Hi Deep6,

Could you clarify what is your desired pH?
A KH of 4 would buffer the pH up, while aquasoil would buffer pH down. RO water would slightly acidic but due to the absence of most ions, would have no buffering capacity at all.

CRS prefers acidic pH water and hence, excessive KH in the water would push the pH towards the alkaline range. However, I do not think KH in itself is detrimental to CRS's reproduction.

Shrimp breeders are normally more concerned with the GH of the water, of which KH forms a part of.

[Dincho]

If you are using an active soil with RO water then maintaining a low ph and kh are easy, as long as there is nothing to buffer the water in the aquarium.

In the wild shrimp tend to breed after a heavy rainfall. Keeping your kh at 0 imitates this and encourages breeding. The gh is important for molting purposes.

[Deep6]

Thanks everyone.

[Shick Settima]

Is it true that surface agitation reduces KH? Does anyone have experience with that?

[retardo]

Is it true that surface agitation reduces KH? Does anyone have experience with that?

Surface agitation increases the gas exchange (O2-CO2 mostly) between open air and what's in the water and changes the pH, but KH is not affected. KH will increase though as water evaporates and leaves behind the carbonates that make up the KH. There is a correlation between pH-KH-CO2 though. Here's an article that will help your understanding on that part.