Raising Ph with crushed coral

[ctanke]

Hello all,
Last night, I added about 3.5 cups of crushed coral into one of my Fluval 404 media baskets (filling it essentially) in the hopes of raising the Ph of in my 90 gallon tank. Without the coral - I was at 7.4. Now with the coral I'm at, well, . . .7.4. Hmmm. Do I need to give it more time? Do I need more of the coral? I do have two pieces of drift wood that while in the tank for two years are still probably leaking tannins, and lowering the Ph. I was hoping to overcome this. My Ph from the tap is 7.8. I could use Ph Up or Down, but I plan on 20% water changes weekly. Any advice?
Regards,
Chris

 

[Guest]

Whats the desired PH you want?

Personally, I would'nt use PH altering chemicals. They generally raise or lower your PH for a few days. Then return to normal. The constant PH swings stress the fish.

Might try removing the driftwood and let the filter run a couple of days with the coral and see if your PH comes up any.

 

[ctanke]

Thanks for the reply,
I'm looking for 8.2 to 8.5

 

[Menagerie]

I had drift wood in my African cichlid tank for awhile. I have rock that is calcium carbonate and the substrate is half shell. The pH is 7.7. I know with the driftwood is was closer to 7.2. Give the coral more time (you don't want the change to happen overnight anyway ). Also consider removing the wood.
Also, read this--there was a long discussion about pH:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=19763

HTH

 

[deli_conker]

My 55 gal tank has 55 pounds of CC as substrate. I also use a bit in the filter as well. It takes my tap water (ph 7.0) to almost an 8.0. Keep in mind that I have a couple of pieces of driftwood in there as well.

It does take time for the ph to rise initially, but after it gets up there it tends to stay there. I did a 30% water change yesterday and my ph is at 7.8.