Hi, I am thinking of adding coral to my tank to raise the Ph... Its usually 6.6 - 6.8. I would like it in the 7s at least. Out of my tap it is 6.6.

Now, my question is, does it have to be crushed inside a bag or can I purchase a piece whole(or a few smallish pieces) and set it in the tank somewhere as decoration?

Better to have it crushed hun, since it will disolve in the tank better the whole peices wont work as much.....Trust me

OK, thanks Koko!

Anytime my dear

Im sorry, one more question... Do they sell it as crushed coral or do I have to crush it myself? And (ok,2 questons!) Can I place the bag of coral in my filter media box?

yes and yes. Go to a store that sells SW fish and you should find some bulk must cheeper that way, also either you can get a panty ho or get a nylon bag from the store

Thanks again my sweets!

Now I call this fast service

I know!! Youre great at what you do!!!

I try my best

Thats why we stive for being #1

I have the bags that they sell for media,etc.,but mostly what I use is Pantyhose! I cut it at the Ankles and fill it up & throw it in the back of my filter.Works easier than alot of other things Ive done.Even if it says "Pre-Rinsed,you'll have to really rinse it well or your tank will get a cloudy white color.Learned that the hard way-Didn't rinse it nearly enough When I rinse my filter's off,I also take the bag of crushed coral out and rinse that too.I also squeeze it out before putting it back in because it's still dripping white. Works good though & doesn't build PH up too fast at one time.

I just wanted to say that I used crushed coral in my tank to raise the kh and the ph and it works beautifully. I have an in-tank Whisper filter so I just have it inside the filter cartridge bag.

When I went to some of the larger chain stores I only saw huge bags that were anywhere from $15-30, and since I have a 20 gallon tank and am pretty broke I did not want to buy that much. I found that by going to my smaller, local fish stores I could ask if they had it and they would go in the back and scoop me out however much I wanted, and sell it to me by the cupful. I never saw it out on the shelves, I had to ask. I don't remember how big your tank(s) are though, so if you have lots of gallonage (is that a word, lol?) you may WANT to buy in bulk.

My kh was at almost 0, so with no buffer my ph would drop from 7.2 out of my tap to 6.0 within a day or two. So I used the coral and ever since I have been at a steady 7.2! :-)

Thanks, Jen!! I have a 10, 30 and 29 gallon tank. All will probably need the coral!
Can you just purchase a hunk and crush it yourself in a baggie?

I'm not sure? I would think that would work, but I am not positive. I remember seeing the bags in the store and I thought some of them said "activated" and some didn't and I wasn't sure which on to get, so not sure if you are crushing it yourself if that has to be taken into account?

I know there is someone here who will know the answer to this though! Good luck!

Thanks for the info Jen, I appreciate it!!

I found this searching:

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...62&#entry412962

I also found threads saying some prefer to use crushed shells instead. Hmmm.....

Hmm, guess my best bet is to look for the already crushed stuff huh? Ill look this weekend!! Thanks for searching for me, youre too sweet!

Crushed coral breaks down faster and must actually sit in the water flow area of your filter to perform to it's capability's. I get a big bag which lasts pretty darn long from my LFS for between 7.99 and 10.00 depending on where I'm at.

Thanks, Devs. Ill probably put it right into my filter media basket! Should it be on the top or middle layer?

Well I went to my LFS and got a bag of crushed coral. The guy said "You're not using it for your goldfish are you?!" Made me wonder.. Why would he ask that? I thought it was Ok?

I have a question about the crushed coral, too. It sits in the bottom of the tank and slowly dissolves to add the minerals to the water, boosting the kH.

So, when you do a water change, you are adding in water that has a low or zero kH. What is to stop your pH from bouncing all over the place during the time (hours? Days?) that it takes for the coral to dissolve sufficiantly to rasie the kH?

Is this not a HUGE stressor for the fish?
How quickly does the coral react? It cannot be instant.....

??????????????/

Yeah. I put some in my 10 gallon that doesnt have any fish in it thankfully because I guess I didnt rinse it well enough so when I turned the filter back on all the water turned cloudy!!

I hope I didnt just waste my money on this coral for nothing.

I really wouldn't concern myself with that too much at all.Half the time they don't have a clue.Maybe he was thinking coral for Saltwater/Goldfish fresh???who knows! I did mention that you have to really rinse it alot. I think even knowing that,I still had a little cloudiness the first time I used it.It was okay after that in a short period of time. Carol, I don't know all the scientific how to's on the water Issue,truthfully I just haven't taken the time to learn. All I know is that my tap water comes out with a Ph of around 7 or so ,but once in the aquarium,it drops of course because I keep driftwood in there for my Pleco's. I need to add crushed coral to help my aquariums buffer system maintain that higher pH. The water changes go in at the right ph level,so I really haven't seen my fish act any different at all. I am only raising the levels slightly,so maybe that's why. Now my snail tank is different.I have a sand based substrate with crushed coral in it along with the media in my filters to keep the ph about 7.4 or so.I do 50% water changes on the one snail tank sometimes twice a week,with tap water that's reading 7,but they don't seem to be bothered either.Maybe there's enough buffering stability left in the water to make it okay? I really don't know....I do know that since I started doing it,my Snail's shells look so much better.

Yeah, maybe he was thinking of something else because I know hes knowledgeable about goldies. His store is almost all ornamental goldfish and he owns it. They actually specialize in goldfish. Its in Chinatown here. I didnt tell him what I was actually doing with it but took it anyways!!
I probably just didnt rinse it enough. Will rinse it more next time around.
Thanks!

I have wondered how that works when adding new water as well. I do a lot of water changes to keep my nitrates down, with being so overstocked. I have always wondered how the buffer seems to stay constant with the new water being added all the time and my tap water having little to no buffer at all. I test my ph before water changes, then again 2 hours later, and usually the next day as well, and it remains constant! Before fixing my buffer, when I did water changes, my ph certainly changed to show the higher ph water being added (6.0 would rise to 6.6 after adding 50% 7.2 tap water), but for some reason the buffer does not appear to do this?

Before adding the coral, I had constant ph swinging, from 6.0 to 7.2! I would LOVE to know how it works out, but it certainly seems to in my tank. Of course I had a reading of 0 kh prior to adding the coral, and it now remains stable at 80. Maybe the unchanged water transfers the buffer over somehow? I do have the coral inside my filter so there is constant water flow over it.

Hmmm...great question!

Glitter...did the lfd guy know you were using it for ph? Maybe he thought you were going to use it as substrate, which is pretty small for goldies since they tend to suck on gravel? Just a thought. Good lucK!

The water has cleared and the ph is up to 7.2 now! Wonderful. I will have to keep monitoring it and see if it stays steady now.

I am glad to hear that the coral has worked for you. Please keep us posted on how it works for you

Yay, looks like this is a good way to get safe pH, one question though, how often do you have to replace it?

Im not even sure I guess!! Maybe when you see the pH lowering again?

I have had mine in for about 6 or 7 weeks and it is starting to get pretty worn down. I think after awhile it gets all used up and kind of turns to mush (which probably keeps dissolving), and then you can replace it, or, as you said, if it stops working you can add more or replace it. But I amnot 100% on that...I will let you know if anything develops with mine. :-)