How much crushed coral to raise p.h in a 55.

[ahfu25]

My ph. coming out of the tap is 6.5, so is the p.h in my 55g tank. I want to raise the p.h using crushed coral. I have a 40 pound bag and I wanted to know how much i should use to raise p.h between 7.8 and 8.2. i was thinking of putting some inside the wet/dry and some inside the tank but i have no idea on how much i should useand where to put it.heres a pic of the wet/dry......................

 

[Bderick67]

Not really sure, but something else to consider is when you do get your tank pH up to that level, what are you going to do to the tap water you add during water changes Adding 6.5 to 8.2 could lead to shifts and fluctuations which is really bad for you fish.

What kind of fish do you have? Also have you tested your carbonate hardness(a.k.a. alkalinity) is it to be considered when adjusting pH.

Wish I could tell ya more but I am in the opposite position of you, my tap 7.4-7.6 and I want 6.6.

 

[gomezladdams]

Put it all in,more wont raise the ph any higher than about 8.2 just keep it more stable

 

[prophets]

get a mesh bag and put it in the sump.Its easier if you decide to lower back your pH, instead of draining the tank and removing the cc. Best place to put it in the sump is where the water comes draining in, this way the incoming water is flowing over the mesh bag of cc. BTW, you really don't need that much per se, depending on how high you want your pH to be. The max cc raises pH to about 7.8, which is why its widely used in saltwater setups, and the substrate is only cc.

Try a small mesh bag and watch your pH, it should raise it slowly which is good so you don't shock your inhabitants with a rapid pH increase.

A small mesh bag should hold approx. 1 lb or so of cc, if you want the large holds about 5 lbs or so.

 

[RadleyMiller]

If the pH of the tank and the pH of the tap are the same thing, don't mess with it. If you are trying to do brackish or african cichlds, use it as a substrate.

 

[ahfu25]

im going with african cichlids so i put some in the tank and some in the sump. lets see how things work out imma give it a week before i test p.h then i'll go from there. thanx fellas. I'll report back next week. Gotta love MFK

 

[RadleyMiller]

Cool! What are you going to go with? The Puka Shell stuff from CaribSea? Thats what I have in my brackish tank. It looks really nice.

 

[ahfu25]

florida crushed coral. dam i cant wait to get some new fish i went to get some (dont know if this is correct) "tufa" rock ...or something like that, to help maintain ph levels and they had some a large variety of africans, dam it was so hard not to buy some!!

 

[ahfu25]

Hey i was thinking, should i add a ac110 to go along with the wet/dry or a canister(eheim2026) for a african cichlid tank

 

[ahfu25]

would this be to much lighting for my set-up...48" 260 Includes two 21"
65 watt Actinic &
two 21" 65 watt
10000°K bulbs
its from coral life