Adding Crushed Coral......How Much?

[coalcut]

Hello,

I have a 340 gallon African tank. I'm adding crushed coral to raise the pH. Since the tank is so large I purchased a 12" x 15" filter media bag and place the crushed coral in there). I have a very large unused overflow box on my tank (plugged/filled) so I placed the bag of coral in there.

How mush crushed coral should I use? Do you think a 12x15 media bag full of crushed coral is enough?

Your thoughts?

Thanks

 

[njvgl2090]

sounds like that would hold enough,i would check the PH,then after adding the full bag,check PH once a week

 

[tfoster7189]

You kind of lost me with the media bag being placed in a pluged & filled overflow chamber. I take that you are running HOB filters or cannister. If so, you are going to want the filter syphon to be in the overflow chamber so that you have water moving thru it and the media bag. If you don't have water movement thru the bag, the overflow chamber will be stagnant and will do little to help raise you ph.

IMO, baking soda would be a cheap and better way to raise the ph while the crushed coral will help a little to maintain it. The reason being, the baking soda will disolve in the water rapidly while the crushed coral will take a long time to dissolve. Plus, the crushed coral will leach its alkaline properties very slowly.

 

[coalcut]

You kind of lost me with the media bag being placed in a pluged & filled overflow chamber. I take that you are running HOB filters or cannister. If so, you are going to want the filter syphon to be in the overflow chamber so that you have water moving thru it and the media bag. If you don't have water movement thru the bag, the overflow chamber will be stagnant and will do little to help raise you ph.

IMO, baking soda would be a cheap and better way to raise the ph while the crushed coral will help a little to maintain it. The reason being, the baking soda will disolve in the water rapidly while the crushed coral will take a long time to dissolve. Plus, the crushed coral will leach its alkaline properties very slowly.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes I have 2 canister filters (FX5s).

Forgot to mention (didn't think it was relevant) that I have a pump within the overflow (for my UV) which circulates the water to the other side of the tank.

 

[rotorhead22]

Baking soda may be able to raise the pH faster but crushed coral or Aragonite will raise your pH slower and provide much greater buffering capacity. Are you using a sand substrate?

 

[tfoster7189]

Baking soda may be able to raise the pH faster but crushed coral or Aragonite will raise your pH slower and provide much greater buffering capacity. Are you using a sand substrate?

True, but you wouldn't want a huge fluctuation in ph when doing large waterchanges. If the water from the tap is around 7.0 while the aquarium is 8.2, doing a 50% waterchange will drastically drop the ph to around 7.6. Using baking soda will help make up the difference for the new water.

I would first test a gallon of water to see how much baking soda it will take to raise the ph to the desired level. That way you have an idea of how much to add based on the amount of water you change out.

 

[rotorhead22]

That is where the having proper carbonate levels or KH is crucial. Again the ability to buffer is important. I have never had an issue with fluctuating pH even when doing 50% WC. Most on this forum will recommend staying away from additives like Baking Soda for an aquarium. Using limestone decor such as Holey Rock or Lace Rock with crushed coral or Aragonite substrate is a much better way of keeping pH steady.

 

[coalcut]

Baking soda may be able to raise the pH faster but crushed coral or Aragonite will raise your pH slower and provide much greater buffering capacity. Are you using a sand substrate?

Yes, I'm using pool filter sand as substrate.

 

[Cichlid-dude]

I would stick with the crushed coral. I use it in my tanks and havent had any problems.