GH + KH = TH - Hardness in ppm OR dH

Ode to a Chemist... and I can never remember which letters to cap and uncap!!!

Also, I can never remember which goes to what when it boils down to hardness of water. My water, out of the tap, typically, measures right around 100-120 ppm for TH (Total Hardness). (ppm = parts per million.) GH is the representation of CaCO3 (calcium carbonate). Some countries measure it as dH (degrees of hardness). Most of the measures in the US also measure KH (magnesium) along with GH for TH (Total Hardness). But, of course, most of the really fishly folks frown on combining the two... Here is more information about water hardness that actually made sense to me. Water Hardness

When I read articles that speak to one type of measurement while my measuring stick is marked in another, I start to see why even NASA scientists screw up when going back and forth between two forms of measurements.

So, for my own peace of mind, I will just come back here from now on to get my numbers semi straight for dH 2 ppm in relation to GH and let KH fall by the wayside for now.

ppm	GH	dH
0 - 70	very soft	0 - 4
70 - 140	soft	4 - 8
140 - 210	medium hard	8 - 12
210 - 320	hard	12 - 18
320 - 530	very hard	18 - 30

Fresh Fries

On June 9, 2009, as I was cleaning out one of my tanks, I realized that one of the platies had delivered a new batch of fry. I could only find 5 survivors so I immediately scooped them up and put them into an emergency tank. I have not filled the tank all the way up because I need to clean the tank at least once every other day depending on the water conditions. Since fry need almost constant food, the ammonia levels can quickly escalate. I went out and purchased frozen brine shrimp that I break off a piece, thaw and keep in the refrigerator for feedings every other day just before I clean the tank. I discovered that if I use an eye dropper, I can plop a few tiny shrimp (that are about half the size of the fry) into the water without making a huge mess of their water. I also added a "wonder shell" to the water to add vitamins and calcium since platies thrive in harder water than I have. These two factors have seemingly helped since none of the fry have died yet, but I'm certainly not holding my breath that any will survive into adulthood.


When I discovered them in the tank, they were no larger than the head of a standard straight pin. Now they are about three to four times that size and seem to be growing rapidly. Here are some photos of them. They still do not have any "color" or any wag markings. They blend in to the rocks that I have on the bottom of the tank, which seems to help them to feel a bit more secure. I find it interesting that they do seem to "pop out" from hiding more with this batch, than the last batch. The photos are difficult to take clearly because the fry are so tiny and they dart so quickly, that mostly, all I have left in the photo is a blur.... Considering the fact that they are less than 1/4 of an inch long, here are the clearest of the images that I could get. In the photos, they appear to be an inch long, but in real life, they are one-quarter of the size you see in the pix. Yes, their eyes really are as large as their stomachs, which you can still see through their translucent flesh....

Food Frenzy Plop Flop

I had my first experience of a fish jumping out of the tank and onto the floor. Thankfully, the landing was soft (on the rug) and I was there to immediately attend to the situation. One of my Betta, Cora, got so excited during a recent feeding that she jumped right out of the tank, through the little opening that I had made with the lid in order to feed them.

I had read that they will jump out of tanks and even through small holes in the lid. I have been really careful to keep all the opening of the lid for hoses, cords and filters, covered with the same type of needlepoint plastic canvas as I used for the filter corral. I never expected that any of them would jump out at me while feeding them! They do tend to lung at food as though they are after live prey, so I guess it should not have surprised me. But, I was certainly startled when I saw poor little Cora flopping around on the rug! LOL

I gently scooped her up and plopped her back into the tank. She acted as if she was startled, as well. She immediately swam to the bottom of the tank and hunkered down there while the other three finished gobbling up the food. No amount of trying to coax her back to the top did any good. The next day, she was fine during feeding time, but she does seem to be shying away from the edge when going after her food now.

The Flukes have Flaked

Per my earlier post, I recently purchased a fish that ended up having skin flukes; slightly smaller than the size of a sesame seed and kind of glistened under the lights. When I first saw them, I wasn't sure what they were. I noticed the the fish would swim with a shutter, sputter and shake. I started looking for ich on her/him, which I found, but also saw the larger specks too. After reading that standard ich meds were not likely to impact the flukes, I started doing more research to find a cure, if there was one. That's all in my earlier posts.

The treatment has worked, and I have put in one last QuIck Cure dosage today for the ich. The flukes that were visible have dropped off and hopefully, any internal or gill flukes have also died with the two treatments I have given over the past week. The fish is definitely swimming better and s/he is no longer flashing on the in tank scratching posts. One more week of observation, and s/he should be good to join the others.