Anyone in Rondebosch area? I'm curious about water specs.

Hi all,
So I'm in the process of moving to Rondebosch (Rondebosch Village, opposite the Common), but only own a pH and nitrite test kit. If anyone else is in Rondebosch, would you mind giving me details on kH, and pH, as well as anything else I should know. Currently I'm in Bergvliet and I know that kH, as the water comes out of the tap, is 0, while pH is 8.0-8.5. Thanks C:

 

You can expect the water to be exactly the same in Rondebosch, the bigger southern suburbs all have very similar water.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Ok, so this adds another dimension to property seeking, now I understand it a bit more ... when you say it’s all about location location location, it’s not so much about the house that’s important, but rather the water ?

 

Im in Newlands, The water comes out at 8-8.5 ph but drops rapidly to 6 or below. This is because of the really low gh. kh is also 0.

 

Hi Jagwa,

Just a small correction here. pH is influenced by kH and not by gH. gH is made up from Calcium and Magnesium content and this does not influence pH, kH or alkalinity has an influence on pH.

So your statement should actually read: "The water comes out at 8-8.5 ph but drops rapidly to 6 or below. This is because of the really low kh. gh is also 0.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks for the correction Dirk, still learning

 

No problem, you are moving in the right direction!

 

Just a quick one for anybody out there, I raised my kh from 0 to 5, but then a few days later and with a partial water change its basically zero again. Is it always this unstable or am I doing something wrong?

 

Hi Jagwa,

What did you use to raise the kH?

Let me know and I can explain.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks everyone! This is very helpful Should I be doing something to raise my kH (I have never done so before) or should I just leave it at 0?

 

@Dirk Bellstedt, I used Nutrafin kh Booster

 

Hi Zei,

You do not need to add anything to raise your pH, but it depends very strongly on what you want to keep. If it is Malawis and Tanganyikans, then you must add something to increase kH but if you want to keep any Amazonian fishes such as angels, tetras and catfishes then this water is just simply ideal and you do not have to add anything. What you must be careful of though is that pH can drop rapidly in this water if you have a tank in which you have a lot of fishes. You should monitor pH quite closely and then if it does tend to go too much between water changes, then you could add some shells into the filter the stabilize this. However you need to monitor pH carefully to decide what needs to be done.

Kind regards,

Dirk