Ph keep crashing. Crushed coral experts needed

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
CoryWM

CoryWM

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 13, 2008
368
11
48
Everett, Washington
www.tankgeek.com
My ph in my 300g keeps crashing. It's at 6.5 right now. I have 8 lbs of crushed coral in the sump... Much more than this, i'm gonna have to put it in as substrate.

I'd like the best possible solution to keep my ph around 7.5 or so, without using additives every time there is a water change. Any aproximation on how much crushed coral is needed to have an effect on 300g?

Btw my water out of the tap basically has no buffer, and my 300g is less than 20 nitrates.

I'm considering putting like 3-4 bags of ivory coast gravel in, which is small shells etc. I prefer bare bottom, but a very fine lair of substrate would be ok too.

Thanks for your opinions
 
Put a UGF plate under the crushed coral so that there is some water flow through it. Use some baking soda to slowly bring the pH and dKH up to where you want it. The dKH or Alkalinity is the pH buffer. It is self sacrificing to keep the pH stable.
 
CHOMPERS;3478619; said:
Put a UGF plate under the crushed coral so that there is some water flow through it. Use some baking soda to slowly bring the pH and dKH up to where you want it. The dKH or Alkalinity is the pH buffer. It is self sacrificing to keep the pH stable.
Click to expand...

Anyone do it without using baking soda?

BTW out of the tap my water is only 7.0
 
The baking soda is only for instant gratification. You will especially need it for water changes with that tap water.
 
For a drip system, either you will need to keep the fish at 7.0 or pretreat your tap water. You can make a reaction chamber of sorts with a house water filter filled with crushed coral or oyster shells. Aquatic Eco-Systems sells refillable filter cartriges (intended for carbon).
 
Limestone will work too but I don't remember the rate of effectiveness or the pros and cons.
 
Btw, I wanted to add some more information that I forgot. Do a search for "Langlier Index" for details of the chemistry involved in the water. Sometimes water will dissolve calcium carbonate more than other times. Sometimes it won't dissolve at all. It is all a balance of the alkalinity, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, TDS, and pH. The temperature also plays a big part in it too.

In a nut shell, there isn't a fixed amount of crushed coral that is needed for a particular sized tank. It depends more on the water chemistry and waste load.
 
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