Crushed Coral Substrate?

[elancloe]

I am setting up a new 55 gallon tank for malawi cichlids and I have a 20 lb bag of white cichlid sand in it right now and I"m debating whether I should get another bag of the white sand or if I can/should use crushed coral mixed with the sand. I think I would like to get the crushed coral because of the buffering capacity if I can do that. Any suggestions?

Also, I would like to use limestone ( texas holey rock) but I am wondering what some other ( maybe more affordable?) options might be. AND, If I do use crushed coral AND the limestone is that going to be TOO MUCH in the tank to buffer/ raise the Ph???

I would appreciate any knowledge and/ or suggestions!
Thanks!

 

[El Tiburon]

I am also wondering the same thing... Will the Coral Mix be OK to add to my freshwater tank?

 

[El Tiburon]

This is what I found.


Crushed Coral

As discussed above, crushed coral raises the pH in the aquarium. Therefore, it is not a good choice for fish that prefer water with a low to neutral pH. It is perfect, however, for fish such as African cichlids. It also gives a [COLOR=#0D439B ! important][COLOR=#0D439B ! important]salt [COLOR=#0D439B ! important]water[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
“feel” to a fresh water aquarium. If you need the buffering that crushed coral provides, but your fish prefer sand, you can use coral sand as your substrate.

One major problem with crushed coral relates to its light coloration which again does not hide dirt and debris. This can be remedied by frequent vacuuming.

 

[elancloe]

Thanks for the info! I wonder if you can actually overload the environment if I were to put in the limestone AND the crushed coral? My initial thoughts are that it would be fine, but I wonder if anyone knows for sure....