Crushed Coral for freshwater?

[beetlebug454]

My tap water has a low ph of around 6.2, and is very soft. Is it ok to use crushed coral as a buffer to raise my ph and harden my water for a freshwater tank?

 

[Dino]

Yes,I know of lots of folks who do so in similar situations.

Dino

 

[beetlebug454]

Great there is the answer to my problem. I don't want to use ph buffer, I want a stable ph and I use crushed coral for my gsp puffer tank (brackish) and man does it do the job.

 

[ewolfe315]

Believe it or not. My PH was always low and I bet even lower than 6.0... I forget which site I was on and this was discussed and I added Arm N Hammer baking soda(yellow/orangish box). I used this just 1 time and my PH has been stable at 7.0 for over 3 weeks now and this includes doing regular water changes in between. 1/8 th teaspoon for every 10 gallons of water and I have a 55 gallon tank that I used it in. If you want to give it a try just be sure you mix it up with a cup of your tank water and bingo you got your PH.

Now I'm not sure on what you want yours at or the proper formula. I just used 1/2 teaspoon at first I would suggest useing 1/8 teaspoon every other day til you want to get the PH level to where you want it. Don't want to create stress on the fish in 1 shot.

I have city water and the only thing I can think of what is causing my problem is the PH I tested from the fawcett was 7.0 (cold water) and when I do my water changes it's warm water. So I'm putting my money on it that it's caused by the hot water heater in my house. Now this is my opinion but like I said I have'nt had any problems with any of my water test readings from my tank since.

John

 

[Butterfly]

The arm and hammer acts just like ph adjuster and can cause fluctuations and has to be added everyso often. Whereas the crushed coral substrate will raise it and keep it at the same ph without having to do anything else. i guess I'm lazy but thats too much testing, measuring and mixing for me I'd just as soon throw the substrate in and forget it.
Carol

 

[ewolfe315]

The arm and hammer acts just like ph adjuster and can cause fluctuations and has to be added everyso often. Whereas the crushed coral substrate will raise it and keep it at the same ph without having to do anything else. i guess I'm lazy but thats too much testing, measuring and mixing for me I'd just as soon throw the substrate in and forget it.
Carol

Carol how much of the crushed coral do you use per 10 gallon. Does'nt clam shells do the same as the crush coral??

John

 

[beetlebug454]

That is my question to, how much crushed coral do you use and how much does it raise the ph. In my 30 gallon puffer tank I used 20 lbs and it raised my ph from 6.2 up to 7.7 which is great for a green spotted puffer, but I would not like it that high for tropical fish. Maybe if I only used 10 lbs to my 30 gallon tank it would have only raised the ph by half the amount that it did. I have also heard that chemical buffer is not good because your ph constantly fluctuates and it stresses fish, but in the wild the ph fluctuates to so where does that leave us as fish keepers?

 

[Butterfly]

Just put it in however deep you want it in your tank. My Ph runs 7.2 -7.4 and the fish are fine. So your 7.7 as long as it stays pretty well steady is ok.
There is no way to compare what happens in the wild in lakes and rivers with our enclosed aquariums. Because of the small ecosystems we try to keep our fish in we have to be more careful to keep the parameters good and the Ph stable. In the wild if they are uncomfortable they can swim away and find what they need. In the aquarium they are stuck with what they have. Thats where we as fishkeepers come in
Carol