Ques RE KH/GH in new tank

[jackieb4153]

I had posted a topic re pH levels a few days ago and Diana gave me some great advice. She advised me not to worry so much about the pH but that the GH and KH levels are much more important. I purchased the "Nutrafin Test" kit for KH/GH. I was not able to find a TDS meter.

The KH level in old tank are 40, the GH was 200
The KH level in new tank are30, the GH was 140

I know Clown Loaches like the water slightly acidic and the water slightly hard.

The pH in OT is 7.0
The pH in NT is 7.6

I've been advised by friends to aclimate my fish to new tank by using the drip method. I would start by taking two or three Clowns and putting them in a 5 gal bucket, filled half way with water from OT. Then slowly drip water from NT into bucket. It would take two to three hours and then it would be safe to transfer from bucket to NT.

Your thoughts and advice are more than welcomed.

[waterfaller1]

2-3 hours is an awful long time in a bucket IMO. Especially without aeration. The water can get cold,not to mention unnecessary stress.. Fish adjust...I would just temp them and let them go.

[Diana]

Are all these readings in ppm?
The GH difference is too much just to be drip acclimated.
If you have time then I would do a few water changes (say twice a week) in the old tank to reduce the GH before moving the fish. If you can get the GH in the old tank to be pretty close (less than 10% different) to the new tank then just transfer the fish over. If you can get the difference to about 15% then drip acclimate. One of the problems is that a plastic bucket can scrape the lens of the eye, and it can take a while to heal. Another problem is that the water in the bucket can cool off. Wrap it in a towel to help maintain the water temperature.

Both tanks have GH and KH within acceptable range for Clown Loaches, so alter whichever tank you can to make it match the other. Maybe alter both tanks a little bit toward each other. Whatever it takes to make the GH closer.

If you have to move them right away, I would add Seachem Equilibrium to the new tank to raise the GH to match the tank the fish are in now. You could also add a little baking soda to raise the KH. Easiest is to dissolve these in some water and pour them into the tank where the filter circulation will spread them throughout the tank.
If there are already some fish in this tank GO SLOW. Cannot make this much change so fast.

Baking soda: 1 teaspoon per 30 gallons will raise the KH by about 35 ppm (2 German degrees of hardness).
Equilibrium: (Per label) 1 tablespoon per 20 gallons will raise the GH by 3 degrees (54 ppm)

In general fish will adapt to changes in the mineral level of the water slowly. Their metabolism changes to handle the changes in osmotic regulation.
It is easier for them to adapt to water that is harder than they were used to. A safe change for fish that are going into HARDER water is as much as 15% harder, and you can just move them over.
It is harder for fish to adapt to softer water. A conservative value would be to move the fish into water that is not softer than 10% of what they are currently in.

What this means with your tanks:
Make changes slowly.
Either raise the GH of the new tank to about 180 ppm and the KH to about 36 ppm. Then you can move them from their current harder water to the new softer water tank, and the change in hardness is not greater than 10% less than what they are in now.
Or do several water changes over a couple of weeks that will soften the water they are in. Here is what the water should test as with each water change:
1st: GH = 180, KH = 36
2nd: GH = 162, KH = 33.4 (OK to drip acclimate at this point)
3rd: GH = 142, KH = 30.5 (This is close enough to move the fish with no problems)