# Increasing GH and Kh without affecting TDS drastically



## Jojodog (Oct 16, 2011)

What is a tried and proven way to increase GH and Kh without drastically affecting TDS?

In my CRS tank, I treat may aged WC water with Prime, use Seachem Equilibrium for GH of 5 and Akaline Buffer for Kh of 2. But when I check the TDS b4 adding the water to the tank, TDS is close to 180
I live in Richmond and generally the water from the tap has very low TDS. I have read one of the post suggesting CRS should Be kept around TDS of 150?

THX

Dan


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## kam yiu (Apr 27, 2010)

i think tds 180-200 is good for crs for molting ,don't worry about it


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Increasing GH and KH by definition increases TDS. TDS = total dissolved solids. So if you have a lot of waste whether it's food, or fish fecal matter, it's going to up the TDS. 1 dGH = 17.86 ppm so 5 dGH will yield roughly 90 ppm TDS without you doing anything else. So if the Richmond water is already at 20, you're already over 100 ppm TDS, never mind waste and other solids in the water from KH and organics.

Edit: You should check your TDS _after_ the wc to get a better idea of the inorganic solids in the water, rather than checking before the water change. You won't be able to adjust your GH/KH properly doing it that way.


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## stonedaquarium (Jun 11, 2011)

TDS of 180-200 is fine for CRS. I wont worry too much about it as long as you keep your parameters stable... I dont even measure GH in my CRS tank. as CRS prefer softer and more acidic water... than neocardina.


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