Crushed Coral

[loraxchick]

got a quick question about coral, well shells actually...ive got soft water and my pH has always been low in my cycled tanks. ive used baking soda to "top off" my water. So i've just had a clam steam and kept all the shells and have sterilized them and crushed them up. Soon to be added to the filters to buffer my water. Essentially this addition is the same as crushed coral. so my question is, how long (i know it is considerably slower than other methods but much better in the long run) does it take to see a measurable affect in my pH?

tap kH-4
" gH-9.
" pH-7

thanks in advance.

 

[drobbyb]

You will notice a difference within 24 hours or so if it is placed in your filter or other high flow area.

I run it in my tanks at all times due to my soft water. If you go this route, you are going to need to know that if you go for too long without a waterchange you will subject your fish to pH shock and risk killing them. Theres always a catch

 

[smbgpd]

If you have natrually soft water, why not keep fish that like soft water?

 

[drobbyb]

If you have natrually soft water, why not keep fish that like soft water?

There is a problem with soft water....It has a low KH and has no buffering capacity resulting in pH crash.

 

[loraxchick]

the pH crash is exactly why im using buffer. on my fish tanks the low buffering is taken care of with regular water changes, but in my turtle tank (they produce a LOT of waste) my filter has decided to crash...doing 80% water changes everyday for a month with a big bucket is not fun...finally seeing my cycle come back but the pH is still low and im worried it'll crash again if i dont use some sort of prophylactic measures...which is why im deciding to put a buffering source in my filter...of COURSE ill be keeping a close eye on the levels in the coming weeks. thanks for the replies. im also happy to be using shells for this as the calcium will also be freed up in the water for the turtle. it's a win win.

thanks again!!!!