Crushed Coral

[Ryan1988]

Hello,

Recently I noticed that my PH had dropped to 6.4, my KH has always been low. Yesterday I finished adding 2lbs of crushed coral to my 20 gal tank. How Long should it take to raise the KH? Based on the test strips it is now higher than 40 ppm but not quite 80 +

Thank you,

Ryan

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:17 AM, Ryan1988 said:

Based on the test strips it is now higher than 40 ppm but not quite 80 +

It should take a little bit of time. It took me about 10-14 days for the initial jump and then water changes and other things can cause it to drop and steadily climb back up.

If the reading you see is 60-70, that's stable and good. Should give you some piece of mind. I run similar water and that's kept PH stable for me.

If you want to see it rise a bit more, you can add another lb of CC.

[JJenna]

Where did you put your CC? You'll see a more immediate change if you placed it in your filter (which I don't recommend). Mixing it in with the substrate or putting in a media bag directly into the tank will change the pH slower. It took a month to increase my KH from 2-8, but I only put in 1 pound of CC in a 40 gal breeder. 

[Ryan1988]

@JJennaI mixed it in with the substrate. @nabokovafan87 I'm not sure your correct on 60-70 being good. According to aquarium co op, fresh water should be 70-140 ppm. But as there are only shades of color on test strips I'd guess mine is at 50 ppm, so it still has ways to go before i'd call it good. 

[Monkeypoint]

I was just about to post the same question. My 15g tank is holding steady at 6.6 PH, which I've read is too low for shrimp and snails. I have a couple of Nerites, a Mystery Snail and both Cherry and Amano shrimp. My KH is 3-4 and GH was at 14 a couple of days ago before I did a 30% water change. The API KH test is the only one I find really difficult to read because there's no sudden, dramatic change. I mean, how bright is bright yellow supposed to look?

I was hesitant to put anything else in the tank before checking here with more knowledgeable peeps. I've been adding Wonder Shell to the tank and I also add some Calcium Carbonate to the Repashy gels. But from what I'm reading here, it sounds like adding crushed coral to the tank would be a good idea.