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Section 3. TROUBLE SHOOTING
TAP WATER
We have stressed earlier in this article the importance of testing
the PH, KH and GH of your tap water before you use it so that you
know whether it is soft or hard or somewhere in between. You are
then in a position to decide if you can use it as it is or whether
you need to alter it (make it harder or softer). This subject has
already been covered in the 'How Do I' section, which you should
refer back to for a more detailed explanation.
But just to quickly recap if the PH, KH & GH are all high, then
you have hard alkaline water. To soften your water across all three
mix it with De-ionized or Reverse Osmosis water. See
page 8.
If PH, KH & GH are all low, then you have a soft water. To make
it harder add a fresh water mineral additive product. Refer to the
'How Do I' section page
9.
The above are what we class as 'true water', which is where all
three readings are either low or high and have not been messed around
with by the water authorities. But there is now a third type that
is not a 'true water' This is where the water authorities have messed
around with it to bring certain levels up to meet the drinking standards.
The result we are talking about is if the PH is high, but KH &
GH are low. This mix of readings cannot be achieved naturally. Water
that is collected in reservoirs on high ground will not have a high
mineral content in it as it has basically just fallen out of the
sky as rain. So PH will be slightly acid to neutral, GH will be
very low & KH almost zero, a true soft water.
The PH value of this water is too low for EEC drinking standards
and so has to be raised by the water authority supplying it. A lime-based
product is added to increase the PH to a higher level, but this
leaves the GH & KH levels still low. This is now a false PH
level. This false water is now deadly to fish, as they cannot live
with extremes from both ends of the water spectrum. The best way
of curing this problem is to pass this water through a De-ionizer
or R/O Unit to completely remove the lime product and then push
the water back up to the desired levels as described in the 'How
Do I' Section page 8. Alternatively heating the false water to above
85f will disperse the false PH reading. This should always be done
in a separate container prior to adding it to the aquarium. Having
removed the false PH you can then alter the water as desired as
described on page 9.
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