Thread: Finally getting my water right [emoji1305]

Kh is a very important one to check,and yes you count the first drop.

So yours first drop turned blue then four more to turn yellow,that's five drops which is fine.
Kh keeps your ph in check and one to keep an eye on.

Since there is confusion about counting drops and, in case anyone else reading this is unsure, you count ALL the drops, including the first drop, until the sample JUST changes to the final colour so the KH took five drops which is 5°KH and the GH took nine drops which is 9°GH. If you're unsure that the colour has just changed either with KH or GH, you can add an extra drop to make sure the colour makes the full change but don't count this drop.

There isn't a preferred value for KH, whatever value provides a stable pH is the correct value and the recommendation is that it should normally be in the range 5 - 7°KH but it could be higher if necessary for stable pH readings from early morning until dusk.

Experienced hobbyists who want to emulate conditions in a Japanese mud pond and have a low pH and TDS can run very low KH values, even down as low as 1°KH but lower values of KH and pH will be close to a pH crash so this takes commitment to constantly measure the KH and pH and add very small amount of sodium bicarbonate as required to maintain these values.

GH values represent the "hardness" of the supply so we have to live with whatever value our individual supplies have but hardness doesn't really affect koi so GH can be measured for interest value only.

That said, I've just lied in the case of very high quality koi because the beni (red) develops better in very soft (low GH) water and the sumi (black) develops better in harder (high GH) water but, unless you've sold a kidney to buy your stock, you can say GH doesn't affect koi so learn to live with whatever GH you get from your supply.

Here is an explanation of how colour development of koi (bought after kidney sales) is affected by water hardness:
https://www.mankysanke.co.uk/html/chromatophores.html