Crushed coral starting point

[Striper83]

Hello,

    I have a 120 gallon planted aquarium going with injected Co2 via inline diffuser and have noticed my festivums acting odd hiding and not eating. I checked water parameters and everything is good except the ph in the tank has gotten fairly low. The ph is registering 6 on the API liquid test and the lowest reading on the CoOp test strips of 6.4. Being the lowest value on the tests I’m fear it could be even lower. I have soft water in my area with little to no gh and kh so not much buffer. The tank has a fair amount of driftwood with eco complete as a substrate. I would like to raise the ph some and also add some buffering capacity to the water to avoid ph fluctuations.  I really didn’t want to mess with the ph at all and just keep it as it would be naturally with water changes but I feel the ph is getting too low with the co2 and lack of gh and kh. I want to add crushed coral to my canister filter to add the hardness to the water. My question is how much coral would be a good starting point to start to remedy the issue without raising the ph too quickly and harming the fish?

Thanks for you time,

Justin 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/1/2022 at 10:59 AM, Striper83 said:

The tank has a fair amount of driftwood with eco complete as a substrate. I would like to raise the ph some and also add some buffering capacity to the water to avoid ph fluctuations.  

I would not worry too heavily about the PH being slightly lower than 7. Generally most fish will adjust unless they are extremely sensitive to PH. There are also species that thrive in the 6.4-6.8 range compared to 7+. In my water, the PH is always about 6.4 and I've never had any issues.  I do however have a lot more KH/GH than you're experiencing.

That being said, I totally understand the wish to add some security and buffer water so that over time things adjust accordingly and you're less likely to have a major crash.

 

 

On 4/1/2022 at 10:59 AM, Striper83 said:

My question is how much coral would be a good starting point to start to remedy the issue without raising the ph too quickly and harming the fish?

I don't think there's much to it. you have two options, add it to the tank (like substrate) or add it to the canister as a chemical additive (after all of your filtration / media).  It will release slowly over time. You can simply add it to the canister and you should be fine to go. 

Second to that, I would take a container for water (if you have one, if you don't, don't worry about it) so that you can treat this like saltwater and add some buffer to it while you're waiting to do a water change.  You add some water for your water change, along with the crushed coral in the canister filter, I would imagine that from that point on.... you'll have enough "buffered" water in the tank to adequately handle the 10-15% swap when you do a normal water change.

Edited April 1, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Striper83]

Thanks Nabokovfan87 for your time and advice I’m going to try the coral in my filter.

thanks again 

Justin

[nabokovfan87]

I found this....

 

Quote

Generally, you can put an amount of crushed coral in your filter. It will dissolve whenever your pH is out of balance. So, it’s a gradual process that can take up to a few weeks. 

For this reason, we recommend adding ½ cup per 20 gallons of water. Put the amount of crushed coral in your filter and place it in your tank. Check the pH every few days to see the change. 

If you don’t get the required change, add ¼ cup per 20 gallons each week. Continue until you get the required change. Although it’s a bit time-consuming, it’s worth the effort.

I have no idea how "accurate" this recommendation is, but it's a good starting point I would think for anyone who wants to add it to their HoB or filter.

[Brian]

I was wondering what the water test at the source?  
How old is the setup- how long has the tank been running with fish in it?