Stabilizing pH with crushed coral
- Thread starter magpie
- Start date
I agree that there my be other sources of calcium that could be use. Im not debating "saving the world" I prefer my coral alive as well.
Oyster shell is also harvested by dreging bay areas where they are growing.
But we could also say we should not use glass aquariums because of silica mines damaging certain areas.
Maybe our fish should be free instead of in our living rooms.
Dont use crush coral If you have a moral objection to it. Or oyter shell for that matter.
I dont know where you live, so this may well not apply. But where i live Oysters are farmed 3 miles down the road. They are in salt water lochs, so in my case Oyster is enviro friendly. In any case Calcium carbonate in pure form is cheap and an industry by product. Marble chips are the same.
Both do the same job. I use Oyster because the shells are thrown away from the processing place near to where i live.
I wasnt arguing with you, but i saw a chance to try and get people who have alternatives, that are as good or better, to use them.
Not using CO2 - low tech.
And I confirmed, our local water "is essentially snow melt" with minimal to no KH. Supposedly pretty much everyone in the city with aquariums has this issue, and it's not all that common across the country. (?)
It was recommended to me to use Seachem Alkaline Buffer vs. the Neutral Regulator. It's phosphate free, and can be used regularly to keep things stable. They said this is a better way to be consistent long term as coral/oysters degrade over time, and figuring out how much to add can be challenging.
I believe someone may be trying to sell to you. The methods we are recommending are easy to maintain.
You can use baking soda for your alkalinity. Most of the buffers that you buy are a blend of sodium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate. Which is baking soda and coral or shell (some type of calcium source ground into a powder).
But if you would rather use a premixed product for the simplicity of it, I get it.
I've been using crushed coral in my substrait (mixed w/ sand and pebbles) for a long time now and my ph has been a very consistent 7.5-7.6. My tap is 6.8-7.
In you original post you said it was a 65 gallon tank. I would start with about a cup of crushed coral in a bag and watch you Ph for a while it should stabilize somewhere close to 7 if the Ph continues to climb you will have to take a little out. But Im thinking you will be fine with that amount.
