Using ground coral

[Dstarr]

I am starting 6 new 10 gallon tanks to try my hand at breeding a few guppies. My PH out of the tap is around 6.3 and I am told guppies really want 7.0 to 7.5. I want to run bare bottom tanks so could I place small bags of crushed coral in the bottom of each tank and effectively raise the PH safely?  TIA

Edited February 1, 2022 by Dstarr

[Levi_Aquatics]

That should work well. I use crushed coral under my substrate and it still helps a bit so I would think if you have it in mesh bags exposed to the water it would work even better. 

[lefty o]

you sure could place it in a mesh baggie in the tank.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I use crushed coral in my tanks. In my bare bottom I have an HOB so I put it inside that BUT if I had to put it somewhere else bags do work but they're not pretty eh? Also not easy to hide. So I had a similar issue with my 4.12 gallon, I had this nice black substrate but I didn't want the white coral on it and I wanted to be able to remove it but I didn't want to use a bag so I got a tiny sake cup and filled it and put it under/behind things though I have a 360 view of the tank when I see it it doesn't make me cringe. I would do a similar thing in another tank, the bigger the tank obviously the bigger the "pot" but I could hide it by gluing driftwood and rhizone plants on/around it or behind decor and it would still be easy to move. 

[Jennifer V]

@xXInkedPhoenixX love this idea! I added a mesh bag of crushed coral to my 5g and although it's helping, I really *do not* like the way it looks. I'm going to try your idea! Do you find it works the same even though the cup cuts down on the water exposure to the crushed coral? 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Jennifer V yep, it seems to work just fine it probaby just takes longer which is ok to me- though it's not "exposed" it's still wet and will still be effected by acid in the water. I tested that tank today, pH 7.6 (it was in the 6 range before I put coral in which is fine for the CPDs but I was trying to get some kh and gh in there for the snails and stability's sake), so the gh is 161.1 (stable for weeks) and kh tested at 4/71.6 which is about where I like my tanks to float. 

[Dstarr]

Thanks everyone for all the great responses. I too like the idea of a decorative container vs the mesh bag. Thanks again. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Just a thought too for @Jennifer V and you @Dstarr if you go for my trick and would like a little more flow you could still use a bag or mesh and line a ceramic tealight holder as they usually have holes. 🙂 

Edited February 2, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame