DETAquarium Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Hey ShrimpSpot! I wanted to ask you all your opinion on what GH Test Kits do you use? I just purchased a replacement for my API GH Test Kit, but I would like a second for a comparison, I am looking at Sera. I currently have TDS of 132-133 in one of my newly cycled aquariums however the GH with the API Test Kit took 6-7 drops for the liquid to turn from orange to green. Which unless I am reading incorrectly the GH is 6-7 or 100-200ppm? Just seems off. Thank you all! DETAquarium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Everyone using API? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 DET, I'm just using API. I also considered Sera, but haven't been doing a lot of GH testing of late and thus I'm still running through API. DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 I use API Does Hanna checkers have one for GH or KH? DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurobom Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hey DETAquarium! I'm using an API kit that was purchased in January this year. My tank has consistently been at a gH of 5 since it was cycled, until two weeks ago when it very clearly indicated it was a gH of 6. The only change I did recently was use Mosura TDS Up since early September, but it is not supposed to affect gH. TDS steadily went up from 110 to 163. I noticed my shrimp were not getting berried anymore and not molting well too. I did an RO only 15% wc to bring gH and TDS down (and a shrimp got berried afterwards). I'll do another gH test on my next wc, and let you know if it is still high (it shouldn't be anymore). If it still is, it may be the API indicator is not working accurately anymore. Of course, it is possible to have a TDS of 132-133 and a gH of 6-7, since some people have tanks with a gH of 3-4 and a TDS of 90-110. Maybe try an RO only wc to bring the parameters down too? Just my thoughts DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 1 hour ago, Kurobom said: Of course, it is possible to have a TDS of 132-133 and a gH of 6-7, since some people have tanks with a gH of 3-4 and a TDS of 90-110. Maybe try an RO only wc to bring the parameters down too? Just my thoughts Long time no see my friend. Hope you are doing well. That is actually what I have been doing over the course of the last couple of days. Did a 15-20% water change, aiming for about 110-115 TDS, but slowly adding the water back over the course of this week. This coming weekend I will test my results once again in hopes of a better or more accurate reading. Kurobom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oem Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Same here using API kits. Your probably right to have a different type on hand to double check things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurobom Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Latest gH test came out fine (gH of 5 on several samples) with the API kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 I noticed over the weekend and talking to a few experienced hobbyists it seems that depending on the remineralizer you can get varying TDS results for the same GH reading. For instance prior to switching to Lowkeys remineralizer I could aim between 140-150 with MK Breed Blue Diamond to achieve the results I wanted. Now I am aiming towards a TDS of 100 to get the GH I am shooting for. With that being said if I ever switch remineralizers again I certainly will be testing GH as frequent as I am now. It seems Lowkeys is much more concentrated giving you the GH results you desire with much less TDS in the water column. Tibee Inc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plamski Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I check GH every month. Little more work can save a lot of troubles. API are OK. Some times they are off 0.5PPM from bottle to bottle but for that price we can't complain. do you like Lowkeys better? Tibee Inc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 9 hours ago, plamski said: I check GH every month. Little more work can save a lot of troubles. API are OK. Some times they are off 0.5PPM from bottle to bottle but for that price we can't complain. do you like Lowkeys better? So far I am pleased with the Lowkeys remineralizer. It takes much much less to achieve the desired GH, my TDS is around 105 and GH is 5. Shrimp seem to be happy and I have had 0 deaths from transferring over to these newly cycled aquariums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plamski Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 So you keep TDS at 105? My shrimps don't like anything under 125. Tibee Inc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uriel RT Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I Use API as well and Switch Minerals about 2 months ago and TDS is always somewhat different from one mineral to the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 2 hours ago, plamski said: So you keep TDS at 105? My shrimps don't like anything under 125. Yes, Currently I do. I have been contemplating using TDS Up, but they seem to be active, eating, and molting properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurobom Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I was using SS gH+, then transitioned to MK Blue Diamond. My TDS was getting quite low too, though the shrimp seemed fine. I was told that a higher TDS helped with shell thickness, so I started using TDS up. It gradually went from 100 to 168 over two months, when I would always aim for a TDS of 150 in my new water. I lost a few shrimp due to very obvious bad molts (I take lots of pics of them after all), and decided to stop using TDS up. I'm still fighting to keep the TDS down now... and things always fluctuate up from my TDS of 140 to 150 after a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurobom Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I was using SS gH+, then transitioned to MK Blue Diamond. My TDS was getting quite low too, though the shrimp seemed fine. I was told that a higher TDS helped with shell thickness, so I started using TDS up. It gradually went from 100 to 168 over two months, when I would always aim for a TDS of 150 in my new water. I lost a few shrimp due to very obvious bad molts (I take lots of pics of them after all), and decided to stop using TDS up. I'm still fighting to keep the TDS down now... and things always fluctuate up from my TDS of 140 to 150 a week after a WC. gH is predominantly from Ca and Mg ions, whereas TDS is a combination of all dissolved ions (like Na, Cl etc.). SS gH+ gave me a gH of 5 at around TDS 70 in distilled water. MK Blue Diamond gave me a gH of 4 around TDS 100 in distilled water. This leads me to believe (and it is listed on the bottle), that Blue Diamond just has other minerals dissolved in it with the Ca and Mg ions, compared to SS gH+. Lowkeys remineralizer is somewhere in the middle then I guess! DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrow Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I was using API but switched to Nutrafin because I couldn't read the API accurately. I love the NutraFin! It's so easy to read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 17 minutes ago, Kurobom said: I was using SS gH+, then transitioned to MK Blue Diamond. My TDS was getting quite low too, though the shrimp seemed fine. I was told that a higher TDS helped with shell thickness, so I started using TDS up. It gradually went from 100 to 168 over two months, when I would always aim for a TDS of 150 in my new water. I lost a few shrimp due to very obvious bad molts (I take lots of pics of them after all), and decided to stop using TDS up. I'm still fighting to keep the TDS down now... and things always fluctuate up from my TDS of 140 to 150 a week after a WC. gH is predominantly from Ca and Mg ions, whereas TDS is a combination of all dissolved ions (like Na, Cl etc.). SS gH+ gave me a gH of 5 at around TDS 70 in distilled water. MK Blue Diamond gave me a gH of 4 around TDS 100 in distilled water. This leads me to believe (and it is listed on the bottle), that Blue Diamond just has other minerals dissolved in it with the Ca and Mg ions, compared to SS gH+. Lowkeys remineralizer is somewhere in the middle then I guess! Very interesting, thank you for sharing. I actually just ordered TDS Up, maybe I will save it and just monitor shrimp instead? In your experience you prefer a lower TDS than attempting to adjust to higher? Tibee Inc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tibee Inc Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 Just wanted to contribute to this knowledgeable thread. On the topic of Mosura TDS Up, I've used it w/o complaint to restructure my shrimp water for years. 5 hours ago, plamski said: So you keep TDS at 105? My shrimps don't like anything under 125. Plamski, I ran into problems w/TDS went below 125 too. DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plamski Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 When I get new batch of SS Gh+ or blue wizard etc. what I do first is to measure what TDS i will have with GH 4. From there I'm testing only TDS when I'm fixing RO water. That is only because TDS is easier to be measured. DETAquarium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 9 minutes ago, plamski said: When I get new batch of SS Gh+ or blue wizard etc. what I do first is to measure what TDS i will have with GH 4. From there I'm testing only TDS when I'm fixing RO water. That is only because TDS is easier to be measured. With that said, you test to see what TDS with that batch of remineralizer = 4 GH, but if TDS turns out to be 90 to achieve a GH of 4 do you use TDS Up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tibee Inc Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 5 hours ago, DETAquarium said: With that said, you test to see what TDS with that batch of remineralizer = 4 GH, but if TDS turns out to be 90 to achieve a GH of 4 do you use TDS Up? D, first I hit my target gH & then test to double check. Afterwards, then bump it up w/Mosura TDS up using drop/smidgen spoons not to over do it. Anyways, where all different but that's my process fellow spot members. I think TDS up is available on the Shrimp Tank.... Not trying to get off subject here but to all thread posters above; Do any of you use/keep TDS 2 meters on hand or just 1? As for me, I keep 2 meters dialed in. One as backup so I don't run into the aggravation of calibration issues over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 4 hours ago, Tibee Inc said: Not trying to get off subject here but to all thread posters above; Do any of you use/keep TDS 2 meters on hand or just 1? As for me, I keep 2 meters dialed in. One as backup so I don't run into the aggravation of calibration issues over time. I have ordered my 2nd tds meter to have on hand to randomly check the 1st for accuracy. Tibee Inc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted December 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 21 hours ago, Tibee Inc said: D, first I hit my target gH & then test to double check. Afterwards, then bump it up w/Mosura TDS up using drop/smidgen spoons not to over do it. Anyways, where all different but that's my process fellow spot members. I think TDS up is available on the Shrimp Tank.... Not trying to get off subject here but to all thread posters above; Do any of you use/keep TDS 2 meters on hand or just 1? As for me, I keep 2 meters dialed in. One as backup so I don't run into the aggravation of calibration issues over time. I have two TDS meters and one on my RODI unit. Tibee Inc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plamski Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 TDS meters are cheap .it is always better to have 2 just in case.Only time they can get bad is if you drop them in the tank . After use always wash it in RO water so the sensor stay clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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