Coral Chips- Do They Stabilize Ph?

[Wanderer]

My PH has been on the slightly low side lately, although today it was much better, around 7 ish. I read that coral chips can help raise PH and somehere on a website a fish keeper mentioned that he used them to "stabilize" PH levels. Today I had a bag of coral chips/ gravel come in the mail and I am just wondering if it is a good idea to place them in the tank somewhere, maybe inside a mesh bag or something. Are they safe to use....ie, is there a danger of them pushing the PH levels too high? How much should I use in a 90 litre tank?

 

[Aquascaper]

Coral chips/crushed coral does have excellent pH buffering capabilities and will raise pH to around 8. This is a very popular substrate for marine tanks which will have it covering the tank floor so I doubt you can use too much, too little will obviously have minimal effect. There is no danger of the pH going too high but, depending on your fish needs, may need lowering for certain species.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I got a panty hose from my wife and filled the end of it with a small clump of crushed coral. I suspended it in the outlflow of one of my filters. This helped stabilize my ph and raised it from 6.0 to around 6.8. In my 26 gallon I used a clump slightly bigger than a golf ball.

You can actually see it in my signature at the top of the tank.

 

[Moby-Krib]

Remember each time you do a substantial water change that the use of substrate , if exclusive towards water modification.. will require a period of time to leach to the water.. It IS NOT the same as a chemical modification , and WILL cause a swing every time..
I keep Africans, I DO modify my water, I Do Not rely upon substrate to take care of any thing but buffering.

I advocate that unless you research and fully understand your approach, And i stress this UNDERSTAND FULLY your aproach, and be ready to commit to it continually, for years .. If you do not FULLY UNDERSTAND DON'T!!
Your fish can and will live fine from your tap, lets not mess with em..

ph modification is an art.. do not even start w/o the proper direction