Bringing up KH/GH

The water in my area (Vancouver BC) is extremely soft - in the range of 0.25-0.75 degrees of KH and GH according to the water authority's published tests. Certainly undetectable by any test kit I've ever used.

I currently increase the water parameters using a 2:1 ratio of Calcium Carbonate and Barr's GH Booster (as sold by aquariumfertilizer.com), to get me to a kH of approx. 3 degrees, and a GH of approx 4-5 degrees.

My question is: given that 3 degrees of the GH is coming from the Calcium Carbonate, does the remaining 1-2 degrees from the GH booster provide the other salts in sufficient quantity? Or should I think about upping the proportion of GH booster a bit further?

Cheers,

~Jeremy

My understanding is that 0.25 degrees of kH is pretty darn low, and everything I've read to date so far has led me to believe that 3 degrees kH is a good level to shoot for. Is that not the case?

Anyway, it sounds like tweaking the gH a bit higher would be a good idea then?

Interesting. Thanks for setting me straight.

There are so many myths and misconceptions out there that it takes a concerted effort to find reliable sources of information with which to get past them. Score another one for The Barr Report...