Coral Sand To Raise Ph

[jimmyringo]

After recent pH crashes,I've put a small fistful of coral sand into my filter.I'm not sure how much to use.How long should it be before this takes effect and i see a rise in pH?Or how long should i wait before adding more?
thanks
Jimmyringo

 

[OldMan47]

I would wait a few days at least to see what effect it has. What you are doing is gradually dissolving the coral into your water to raise the pH. Calcium carbonate, the main thing in almost any shell, dissolves very slowly and the speed at which it dissolves will slow as the pH goes higher. If you used it for the complete substrate you would see an immediate large response but my guess is that is not what you really want.

 

[jimmyringo]

No,i'm looking to slowly rise it back up to about 7,and then stabalise it there.if there's no change in a couple of days,i should add a bit more then?

 

[rabbut]

Thats the way to do it 1 tsp at a time untill you hit the target, checking for the effects every 2-3 days

All the best
Rabbut

 

[jimmyringo]

And when i hit my target,how long should it last before i change the coral again?

 

[rabbut]

Couple of years at least I'd rotate two bags arround whenever you clean the filter. 1 in doing it's thing, the other out and drying to kill the bacteria on it, allowing it to keep doing it's thing

 

[drobbyb]

I use crushed coral in my filters to raise pH. Like stated, it really takes a while to wear out and is probably the safest and easiest way of raising pH.

 

[waterdrop]

Some members have reported it can take two or three weeks to see and effect, so you have to be patient. rabbut's bag rotation idea is a good one because if you don't do that then you have to do something to keep the surfaces exposed or its effect slows down.

~~waterdrop~~