HELP!! Bought a used tank and I need advice!

[Matthew C.]

Test your water parameters. For ammonia, nitrate. nitrite,and ph. Of you need to keep ph above 7.0 use a natural item like crushed shells or aragonite...when u start dosing with chemicals you can screw up other things, if at all possible go natural products.


itrite

 

[alex_da_fixeru]

You know you have to dechlorinate the water BEFORE putting it in the tank, not after.

 

[splattered]

I've collected some tiny sea shells from the beach to add to my tank in an effort to raise the ph/add minerals. I separated the tiny shards and smaller pieces from the larger whole shells. I'm thinking it's better to put the smaller stuff in the filter and the big stuff in the display

 

[TMaier]

I tried coral years back. It was great for hardness but it didn't do much for KH or as much as I wanted for PH. I use the coral/aragonite mix and it did the trick for me. I raise snails and anything lower than 7.2 is bad for shells. Only about a 1/2 to full cup in your filter should do it. Or just mix it in the substrate.

 

[splattered]

Clearing up at all?