Raising PH -- How much crushed coral woill I need?

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Gambusia
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Apr 29, 2005
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I am in the process of switching my 125 from a SA blackwater theme to a CA cihlid biotope. PH of the water here is 6.2 straight out of the faucet -- perfect for uarus and severums but not so perfect for viejas. I know if doesn't make that much of a difference but would still like to do a right thing with this transition. Besides, I have this huge stump of wood that I have been trying to sink for a few months now and I have a feeling that it will make PH drop like crazy!

How many pounds of crashed coral or dolomite will I need to get PH in this tank to 7.2-7.5? Which should I choose (coral or dolomite) and why?
 
Do you have a sump? If you do, I would just add a big bag of Crush Coral substrate to it in pantyhose or something. You can also buy slow dissolving alkalinity blocks that look like giant vacation feeders.
 
No, I dont have a sump. The tank is filtered by a Fluval 404, 2 AC 110 and an Emperor 400. Maybe I could stick a bag of crushed coral into one of the acuaclears? Still, I'd like to know how much of it I would need?
 
Use as much as you can fit. It will slowly dissolve as the acid works on it.
 
This is what I am going to do for my puffer. i got alot of info on the crushed coral. For a 100 gal with an XP3, I was told to use about 1 pound in a bag in the XP3. It will slowly dissolve but not for a very very long time. But... you have to rinse the bag about every week to 2 weeks because it will build up yuck and bring up your nitrates. I got this information from 4 different people so I trust the sources. Good luck.
 
TankBuster;601583; said:
This is what I am going to do for my puffer. i got alot of info on the crushed coral. For a 100 gal with an XP3, I was told to use about 1 pound in a bag in the XP3. It will slowly dissolve but not for a very very long time. But... you have to rinse the bag about every week to 2 weeks because it will build up yuck and bring up your nitrates. I got this information from 4 different people so I trust the sources. Good luck.
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Intreseting point about rinsing! And I finally have my answer as to how much of this stuff will I need to keep in the tank! :D Thanks
 
JardiniBoy;602054; said:
Just add it slowly until the pH reaches the level you want..
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A lot or a little, it will react and change the pH at the same rate, but more coral means it will last longer.
 
Howdy,

with crushed coral there is one thing to keep in mind: It is not an instantaneous reaction, but more a long-term effect. That means: Each water change with pH 6.2 will cause a crash in total pH. Especially since pH is not linear but logarithmic: A 25% water change will bring down pH from 7.5 to 6.7. In the pH range we are talking about this is serious. And crushed coral will take weeks to bring it back up to normal.

You may be better off using pH plus agents from your LFS ...

HarleyK
 
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