Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sorry to be dump

But what is gH and gH?

KH is carbonate hardness I think and GH general hardness. KH I think represents the buffering ability of your water

Rupert from what I have gathered over the time that I have had My Fish it has been better to have a higher kH/gH reading as it mean you have a stable system and therefore a stable pH..

I have a Sand and Gravel filter as part of the Filter system instead of the sand I have Shell grit and My pH has been stable since I put the SG in the system. My kH is around 70-90 and the fish have been doing well..

If I have remember correctly that as part of the bacteria cycle they consume calcium, so the better the calcium the better filtering system..
I might be wrong but My system is healthy..

Juergen

Psst with regard to a AP system, I can't answer..

Using shellgrit for pH stability is fair enough... and by consequence will raise kH (carbonate hardness, or buffering)... and probably reflect somewhat in the total hardness value...

It may slightly affect general hardness (gH)... with a greater availability of calcium... certainly beneficial for fish/crustacea skeletal/shell growth... and plants....

But generally... general hardness is more a measure of calcium/magnesium ions... or what is often referred to as "hard water"....

There has been postulation as to the "optimum" levels of hardness for fish... usually in relation to pond based aquaculture....

But whether or not it is in fact the case... is a little clouded by the fact that hardness and pH in pond based aquaculture is deliberately controlled primarily for algael growth... and succession of micro-organism growth for early fry development...

The questions is really... are hardness levels actually required for "optimal" fish growth... or is it more that the generation of natural micro-organism feed that is actually the "optomising" factor... as a consequence of the hardness, rather than the hardness itself...

In AP, from my experience, and seemingly from others... hardness doesn't seem to be a factor of any great significance... or inhibition to growth....

But as used in terms of pH stabilisation, and availability of calcium provision... it's perfectly valid...

OK so do people test their KH & GH or not. Today I retested and got the same results as a few days ago and I also tested the tap water which had the same KH but the GH was only 3.

According to some research over the last couple of days the ideal water for goldfish is 200-400ppm. No listing for trout surprisingly enough My system if converted to PPM is running a GH of low/mid 200 so should be all OK.

Hoping to put another batch of fish in this week but nt real keen on killing them before they get to plate size.

Have to say sorry I think..

especially if when you say 2 and 13 you mean Drops of test solution.. I'm more used to ppm and not drop of solution..

Juergen

I only test the usual suspects. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH.

On my home systems, I didn't test GH and KH, because I was on city water.

For the commercial system, I did test GH and KH, because I'm on a well from what is probably a limestone aquifer. I wanted to get an idea of how much pH buffering the water would have, but that (and to prepare myself for pipes getting filled with scale) was the only reason I tested it.

Still unable to find much on GH & KH and still no confirmation on cause of recent loses. As mentioned to turn negitive into slight positive I have done a little bit of work, between rain interuptions & work over he last few days. Put in a overflow in main FT and currently doing a water change to clean out main FT and also lower the GH.

Want to have it all ready for another batch of Fingerlings early next week .

The Jury is still out on what happened to my last batch of fingerlings so better safe than sorry I have done a 80% water change, cleaned the FT and also removed some shell griy from the ST. I also thought that while there were no fish or water I would add an overflow to the main FT and go about creating a neater looking cover. May as well turn a negitive into a slight positive.

Will be going to get another batch of fingerlings on Thursday and I must admit I am a little nervous that I am sentencing them to death. I found it quiet sad to lose so many fish and worse was not been able to nail down a cause.

Anyway as they say, you have to get back on the horse

its gut wrenching to pull a batch of dead fish. Will make eating the next plate sized ones even better! Good luck.

Made the trip to the trout farm today and brought home a new bunch of fish. Settled in OK, now to cross fingers and hope they make it to the plate, not sure if I can handle another mass casualty event.

What size are they Silver, where'd ya get em and how much?

I know how you feel after losing two batches of trout fingerlings lately in my greenhouse system and not knowing exactly why.
I wish you the best with the new batch

Hey Bundy, got the fish from Buxton but with driving time etc I will get my next lot locally. Dean @ Growfresh Aquaponics, Bolton street, Lower Plenty currently has 100-125mm Rainbows for $1.50. I already get my food from him.

Its only early, but my fish seem a little shy however all seem to be doing well so far (fingers crossed)