Gravel vs crushed coral

[chesterthehero]

i pulled the crushed coral out of one of my tanks yesterday and added some 3grade aragonite.. so far so good ill know in a week or 3 how the slut buildup goes..
the buffering is great but i think i might end up swithing to sand and running crushed coral in a canister or something

 

[Jgray152]

I am starting a Cichlid tank. I plan on lake malawi cichilds. Gravel or crused coral?

Everyone who is suggesting sand, gravel or another substrate that does not help with the PH, Hardness, needs to take a look at the inhabitants he will have.

Crushed Coral / Shells may need to be cleaned like gravel, but not as often I don't think. I don't have to clean mine for about 8 months. Even then it still is not that dirty and I have a 55 gallon with about 15 Mbuna Cichlids and 1 Jack Dempsey.

Not only will it decrease the need to raise the PH and hardness when doing a water change, it could reduce stress on the fish and make them more active.

 

[Polyptasaurus]

crushed coral, it keeps the pH up all by itself, nothing better for africans