How Much Crushed Coral to Use?

[DeirdreHoyle]

I have a 25 gallon tank with super low ph (my bb died when I used an antibacterial medication). I have about half a cup of crushed coral, should I use all of it or some of it? Is there a general rule about how much to use?

 

[jennandjuicetm]

Following!

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[DeirdreHoyle]

I found a video on youtube that said to do 1/2 cup per 20 gallons so that's what I did. Put it in my filter so the water runs through it....hopefully it works!

 

[lovecatfish]

What fish are you housing? For my tangaganyikan. I'm using that much, around 800g of it for my 15gallon long. Those are in my overhead sump. I also use coral sand and shells to increase pH. Using live plants also increases pH. Live plants absorb carbon dioxide which is acidic, thus lowering pH. Hopes this helps.

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[DeirdreHoyle]

What fish are you housing? For my tangaganyikan. I'm using that much, around 800g of it for my 15gallon long. Those are in my overhead sump. I also use coral sand and shells to increase pH. Using live plants also increases pH. Live plants absorb carbon dioxide which is acidic, thus lowering pH. Hopes this helps.

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I have 2 GBR's, 6 neon tetras, 6 harlequin rasboras, 5 kuhli loaches and 1 clown pleco. The tank is also medium-heavy planted. I have a lot of water wisteria, water sprite and two red amazon swords. I've had the plants for a while though and never had issues with the pH.

But you say you're using 800 g of crushed coral in your 18 gal? Is that 800 grams? Or what measurement is that lol

 

[lovecatfish]

Aren't those fish blackwater fish... Keep them in low pH. It will be better for their health. Ya that is 800g. Just showing you its in my sump haha. I think you should use much less since your fish are blackwater fish

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[DeirdreHoyle]

Aren't those fish blackwater fish... Keep them in low pH. It will be better for their health. Ya that is 800g. Just showing you its in my sump haha. I think you should use much less since your fish are blackwater fish

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No I mean what does the g stand for?! Is it grams? Just curious.

And what are blackwater fish? I try to keep pH around 6.8 or 7.0 because they do like soft, slightly acidic water but my pH was crazy low...like 5 lol

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

Also, once I reach my desired pH should I take the coral out? Or do I leave it in for a while?

 

[trennamw]

Did you try just changing the water?

You shouldn't try to adjust pH by adding stuff to the tank unless your KH is extremely low. You'll mess with the total dissolved solids and can induce osmotic stress.

And even if your KH is low, you want to alter your KH not your pH. KH stabilizes.

Crushed coral doesn't directly raise pH. It raises KH. KH prevents acidity by reacting with acids to put it crudely.

And I'm not sure I understand the connection you are presuming between losing your BB, and acidity?

What are you doing to help recover your BB? What's your water change schedule? What's your KH?


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[DeirdreHoyle]

Did you try just changing the water?

You shouldn't try to adjust pH by adding stuff to the tank unless your KH is extremely low. You'll mess with the total dissolved solids and can induce osmotic stress.

Crushed coral doesn't directly raise pH. It raises KH. KH prevents acidity by reacting with acids to put it crudely.

And I'm not sure I understand the connection you are presuming between losing your BB, and acidity?

What are you doing to help recover your BB? What's your water change schedule?

Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I change 40% of the water every week. My tank parameters were very stable until recently when I got new GBRs and they had fin rot. I used an antibacterial medication (Furan-2) to cure the fin rot, but the antibacterial meds killed all my bb sending my tank into a mini-cycle. I had an ammonia spike, a nitrite spike, and my pH dropped really low. I did daily water changes until everything was back to normal except the pH. So really, me using crushed coral at this point is the best option. I am aware that crushed coral is a buffer that raises KH and that is what I want, I want a stable pH of 6.8. It was at 5.0 and not rising even with daily water changes and had been that way for 2 weeks.

So to answer your question, yes I did try just changing my water. The issue is not that simple.

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

Also, since you asked what I am doing to address the issue of regrowing my bb, I'm sure you have heard that bacteria stop reproducing at a pH of 6.0 or lower, so raising my pH (and KH ) was a necessity to get healthy clean water again.

 

[Delapool]

I don't know if it has been mentioned but I've found getting a kh test useful if going down the path of adding carbonate buffers.

 

[lovecatfish]

It is grams. I think using buffers will be better for you as you will be able to control exactly how much you want to increase. You can try using seachem buffers, they are pretty okay...

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[trennamw]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I change 40% of the water every week. My tank parameters were very stable until recently when I got new GBRs and they had fin rot. I used an antibacterial medication (Furan-2) to cure the fin rot, but the antibacterial meds killed all my bb sending my tank into a mini-cycle. I had an ammonia spike, a nitrite spike, and my pH dropped really low. I did daily water changes until everything was back to normal except the pH. So really, me using crushed coral at this point is the best option. I am aware that crushed coral is a buffer that raises KH and that is what I want, I want a stable pH of 6.8. It was at 5.0 and not rising even with daily water changes and had been that way for 2 weeks.

So to answer your question, yes I did try just changing my water. The issue is not that simple.

That's great!

So sorry to hear about all the struggles. All the info really helps provide advice too.

What is the pH of your tap water? And how far along are you in getting things cycled again?

I tried crushed coral to buffer, it made a mess and didn't help that much. Using a small dose of Chichlid Buffer does, and the dosing is very precise. It stabilizes pH for me far more than crushed coral. I Understand it's just baking soda and Epsom salts though, so some people make their own.

Just some other thoughts since you've got a lot happening all at once!

A lot of people use baking soda to buffer pH during cycling, too.


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[lovecatfish]

I agree. Use the buffers, that's the easiest and safest.

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[DeirdreHoyle]

That's great!

So sorry to hear about all the struggles. All the info really helps provide advice too.

What is the pH of your tap water? And how far along are you in getting things cycled again?

I tried crushed coral to buffer, it made a mess and didn't help that much. Using a small dose of Chichlid Buffer does, and the dosing is very precise. It stabilizes pH for me far more than crushed coral. I Understand it's just baking soda and Epsom salts though, so some people make their own.

Just some other thoughts since you've got a lot happening all at once!

A lot of people use baking soda to buffer pH during cycling, too.

Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

I've never heard of cichlid buffers but I had been using baking soda before I got the crushed coral and it gave me mixed results. It would raise the pH for one day but then it would drop again a day later.

I am basically all cycled again (no ammonia or nitrites) and have been for about a week, I just struggled so much with pH for some reason. I had the same problem when I first started cycling the tank 2 years ago.

Not sure about tap water pH, I think it is around 7 but I haven't checked it in a long time. I'll check it and get back to you

I really appreciate the help!

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

I don't know if it has been mentioned but I've found getting a kh test useful if going down the path of adding carbonate buffers.

I do have a kh test but I think I'm doing it wrong because when I test my gh it takes 3 drops, but when I test my kh is never turns color even after like 15 drops. Pretty sure that can't be right, because my pH has been unstable so I would think my kh is low...but I don't know much about kh :/

 

[Delapool]

What is tank ph now to go with that?

Also have you tested tap water as a check?

 

[MICEY]

don't know what is effecting your ph the water here in Oregon is very soft and slightly acid
my well water has 120 ppm desoved solids with a ph of 7
check your tap water , Eugene uses a ton of chlorine I don't know about Portland

 

[trennamw]

Deirdre are you in Portland? How did I miss that?

I'm in Portland too, I've lived in both water "areas" ... Our water is extremely soft. Usually just 1 drop from KH and GH tests change color.

Coral didn't do anything for me, even at twice the levels recommended here.

My secret formula is for each not quite full 5 gallon bucket (so, probably 4 gallons), I add 1/4 tsp each Chiclid buffer (from Petsmart) and Seachem Equilibrium (from The Wet Spot). That puts me at 4 drops for each and I've never had a pH swing since.

You can buy one container each API Cichlid Buffer and API Chiclid Salts at Petsmart, but I wanted the micronutrients in Equilibrium.

If you are in Portland I'd be happy to give you a few sample doses to see if it works for you. Pm me if you'd like.





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