cichlidsmad

hi i was wondering if aragonite sand is alright to use with cichlids?? and does it change my water chemistry in any way pH hardness etc??

pinkfloydpuffer

Aragonite will raise the ph. I have oolitic sand, which is aragonite based, in my high brackish/soon to be SW tank. It is a good ph buffer.

cichlidsmad

what would my ph go to if i used it

does it depend on how much you use so the more you use the higher the ph
would it change my hardness because i read that it has a hardness of 3 to 4??

cichlidsmad

where could i find this sand would it be available in hardware stores or petshops??

thequietman44

I have 5lbs of coral (aragonite) sand as the substrate for my 5g invert tank. It raised the pH from 6.2 to 7.8 and hardness from zero to 150. I got mine from Petsmart, it was in the marine aquarium aisle.

I've also wondered if the pH is proportional to the amount of sand used, but I haven't really done any tests. However, I added ~5lbs of crushed coral to my 36g and the pH came up to 7.0 from 6.2, so it seems like it is. You'd probably have to start with a little, keep testing the pH, and add more until you get the desired pH.

cichlidsmad

ok kool thanks