Hi there

I did my first test on my new set up today has been running for 5 days

these are the readings

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
PH - 7.0
KH - 12

i just stumbled across an online converter which sais my ppm is 214??

my tank is 240 litres, and i would say that there was only about 200litres of water in there.

I have no fish only plants at the mo.

I also have JBL phosex ultra and nitrat ex bio in 1 of my other filters.

the plants seem to be doing well so far.

i do have a drop checker but i used tank water to fill it, its the JBL co2 and ph., i have just ordered some 4dkh water with the reagent already in it to use instead of the tank water.

i have the lights on for 10 hours a day and the co2 on for 12, 2 hours on before and 2 hours off before lights.

i have 2 canister filters and 2 up to 6000lph powerheads.

Im not sure what the hardness should be ect!! and there is so many different opinions on diffrent forums.

by the way my co2 input was 3bps but as the colour in the drop checker never changed i upped to an amount i cannot count, but it did go green. im just unsure if my water parameters ect are muddling with the results.

Can any help me get a better understanding,

some pics of my set up!!

Good looking tank. What reading is that for 214ppm.....CO2? I would doubt it were that high if so. Using your tank water, which looks to be pretty hard, will throw off your drop checker. If you think about it, you're 8dkh higher than the solution that goes in there. So it will take much more to get it to green and less if your water was below 4dkh. Hardness and kh will depend on the plants you pick, as some like softer water. Your tank will probably need somewhere in the 2-3bps range. No big deal being over with no fish, but would not put any in there until you get the 4dkh or degas it.