The buffers I bought from Amazon. They were $7 each. (US) Seachem Alkaline and Acid buffers. I also bought Seachem Equilibrium. That was $10. I haven't opened them and will return them if they aren't necessary. The crushed coral I bought was $13. It's a pretty big bag so just putting it in my filter, it should last quite a while. All in all, less than I've spent on most things for the aquarium.
What I meant wouldn't be cost effective would be to take a bag of the crushed coral and dump it into a huge water container and use that to get the kh and ph right and then add to my aquarium. Over time, that would add up considerably with the amount of water changes necessary to keep aquariums healthy! I could probably reuse it for a while but would have to replace fairly often from what I understand due to it breaking down. Maybe I misunderstood.
The crushed coral I added to the filter last night seems to be doing its job though. My ph hasn't moved in 24 hours! That's huge progress. The water column is quite cloudy today and I'm assuming that is from the coral. I rinsed it but clearly not good enough. Hopefully, that will calm down soon. I also tested for parameters. I've got .25 ammonia, 0 nitrItes, and 10 nitrates. I was so happy to see nitrates as I know now my cycle wasn't completely destroyed. I did a small water change to help with the .25 ammonia.
I am still searching to find the underlying cause but at least I know that for right now, things are stable. I hope that Caliban hears from his friend that had a similar problem to mine. Maybe that info will help me.
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