I found this article and thought it would make good reading for some of you guys that manage to get your head round it

the bit about calcium to treat/prevent HITH may be interesting to some. and could explain why some peoples oscars get it and others don't?



www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

This article clearly proves my point of keeping the kH steady, to keep the pH steady in my tank , by adding Calcium.
I learned this trick from my Pleco supplier, where i got 4 of my (expensive) plecos.
He kept discus as well.
He suggested to keep the kH stable at 7 with wc, to keep a stable pH.
The pleco's need that stable pH, and adding kH+ seems the best thing to do, instead of messing with the pH.
The guy had one Pseudacanthicus at 27 Years old, so he seemed trustworthy.lol
Calcium is actually the only addition to my water, with the dechlor.
Nice article.
I bookmarked it, Marcus!

btw watch out, never highten the kH with more than 2o every other day.
If you put in too much calcium at once, you may end up killing your fish.

So did I (bookmarked it that is great minds think alike )))))

It takes a little math to find out how much you can use of the calcium at a time.
My tank is steady at 7 kH, but the tapwater comes out at 3 kH.
Refilling with 50% new water will drop my kH quite a bit, but i add the new calcium with bits at a time, spread out over the refilling time.

That is a pretty complex article. GH / KH is something I've never actually bothered to measure. I think my water is probably more on the soft side which suits the fish that I keep. Obviously if you are keeping South American fish and your water is very very hard then you may be more susceptible to developing problems.

OFL wrote:


Yes I thought so. I am going to read it again another day cos as much as I took in, more went over my head. there are other articles in the information section well worth reading too. I have been looking for good information as to why my arow has some miner chipped scales. it came with them and I thought they would heal within 3months. I am increasing carotenoid by way of shelled prawns, and muscles stuffed with hikri pellets. But I have also learned PH-GK-KH and calcium also affect scale chipping.

I like the vacuum with the micro filter added.

What is your pH?

my Ph is 7. and is always stable. I don't think I have a problem, most likely the shop I got it from or from the breeder they got it from. it is getting better but very slow. it would only eat crickets when I first got it. its grown a little over an inch and is much fatter so I think is on the mend.

What do you think about the calcium and preventing HITH? It would be interesting to know if it works.

marcus wrote:


I have no idea Marcus, that is nothing written in any of my health books he that mention Calcium and hole in the head disease. I believe that different water hardness can have an effect on how fish control mineral salts in the blood. So if you keep hard water fish in soft water, the fish may struggle to maintain the correct mineral salt in its blood which could in turn puts undue stress on the fish which is thought to be one cause of hole in the head disease. Don't take this as gospel, is just the way I understand it, I may have got it completely wrong

that is where being ignorant plays an important role.... in my life,
i never understand what are those things! GH, KH.... i only knew
about nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and pH only recently.... and i dont
have any much experience about HITH in my tank..... from the tank of other
people ...yes... i did... it feels good not knowing about them and
never experience any of it....

OFL wrote:


That would not surprise me at all. for some time now I have started to believe that even lowing the nitrates to quickly by large water changes can affect fish far more than I first thought. i think this is anther good reason to have larger tanks, so you can maintain a stable condition. even if its a slightly poor and stable, I think is better than a poor/good/poor environment.

Thanks Marcus; Ive often wondered if my tap water lacked certain minerals that are commonly found in nature. My Oscar has been plagued with HITH for no apparent reason. My water parameters Amonia 0 Nitrites 0 nitrates 10 PH 7.2 are always
maintained. While the HITH hasen't gotten worse, it also hasen't gotten any better.
Perhaps I'll check into the mineral aspect, but its a little over my head and deserves some study. Thanks.