Crushed coral sand

[Terrance]

Is there any problems with buying used crushed corals?

I want to buy 23 pounds of it for $10. There are also snail shells mixed in it. The seller pulled the crushed coral out of his reef tank and rinse well & dried. I'm mainly using the crushed coral to raise the pH of my 29 gallon and its cheaper than aragonite.

What do you guys think?

 

[Terrance]

Nevermind, I found my answer. Its better to buy new crushed corals.

 

[ccCapt]

FYI, it will not raise your pH unless your talking about using it in a freshwater tank. Calcium carbonate (crushed coral) will not start to dissolve until the pH gets down to about 7.3 or lower.

I would suggest not using crushed coral at all and use aragonite sand.

 

[mr_X]

yep, for the same reason the other guy took it out of his tank- detritus (uneaten food and fish poop) get's trapped between the grains and if you aren't the type to vacuum it regularly, it will spoil the tank. IMO/IME stick with smaller grains.
raise the ph by better gas exchange. aim a power head towards the surface to create some turbulence.