crushed coral?

[vdawgs22]

instead of trying to raise ph with buffers i was thinking of starting to use crushed coral , something i've never done before.

Is it a bad idea to remove gravel and add crushed coral? or should i just mix in some crushed coral with the gravel?

 

[iamzrad]

Mix the coral with your current gravel. Take 50% of the gravel out and subsitute the coral for the remaining 50%.
Or if you have a spare canister, add coral in it for filtration so it doesn't interfere with your gravel setup.

 

[bl00]

I have a fairly high pH...crushed coral mixed in with my gravel boosts it a little bit.

 

[mahemaheman85]

i would take out the gravel,
also crushed coral generally only raises your ph by around .2, so if your ph is on the low side it wont make much off a difference. Buffers also put minerals/salts back into your tank that are beneficial for your fish. I use both crushed coral and buffer, and lake salt occasionally.

 

[Pittbull]

A mixture of crushed coral, aragonite sand and texas holey rock will aid with the hardness which is what the africans love anyways..

PH as long as it stays around 7 to 8 you should be fine but as for hardness it should be around 200 to 400ppm..