aubicon;1342020; said:
I have never had to replace the crushed coral I have in my tanks. It lasts a very long time.
Its more about figuring out how much coral you need to raise it to your desired Ph.
How To Raise Alkalinty?
- Thread starter convict94
- Start date
I have never had to replace the crushed coral I have in my tanks. It lasts a very long time.
Its more about figuring out how much coral you need to raise it to your desired Ph.
When it's all dissolved away... probably 100 years or so
Coral is mostly calcium carbonate, if the pH of the water is low the acid will dissolve a little bit of the coral, causing the pH to rise. Once it gets to about 8 then the coral stops dissolving, so you cant really overdo it. Limestone rocks or crushed Oyster shells work too.
Thats why many people used coral sand or limestone pebbles in African tanks, it naturally keeps the pH and hardness up.
Cheers
Ian
ok, right now in my 55 i have a 5" green terror, a 4" green severum, 2x 2" tiger barbs and a 3" red devil. my tank has been set up for about a month, i have an AC110 running 500 gph and i do 30% water changes every 2 weeks(is that too long to wait each water change?). that should answer everything.
50%/week is best, especially for large, messy fish like yours. Those tiger barbs would be happier in a school.
convict94;1344496; said:
What is the actual pH and hardness of water now?
All the fish you have will actually prefer slightly acid and softer water.
Raising pH and hardness is normally an issue with the African lake species that like / need a lot of dissolved mineral in the water.
My tanks stay around pH 6.5 and very soft, the tiger barbs and kribensis do fine in those conditions.
Cheers
Ian
P.S. Test for Nitrates in the water, that will tell you how often you NEED to change the water. But more water changes never hurts
my ph is about 6.8 or 6.9 but my alkalinity is still low. although it is low my fish are doin fine now. thanks
