Adding crushed coral

[Monkeypoint]

My 15 gallon tank tests at 6.6 PH without fail. Is it advisable to add some crushed coral to raise the PH a bit? I have Neocaridinas and Caridinas (Amano), Nerites, and a Mystery snail. All the shrimp water parameter guidelines recommend a PH range of around 7 - 7.2. I was going to start with 1 pound of crushed coral. It's a 15g tank, but I'm assuming the rocks, driftwood, substrate and plants displace a lot of water. The Fluval Stratum substrate is what brought the PH down. My 55 gallon tank with regular gravel is always at 7.6.

 

 

[JJenna]

1 lb of crushed coral is the place to start. Because it continues to dissolve over time I would continue to test ph levels regularly. I've put mine in a media bag so I can remove it if the ph starts to creep too high. 

 

[Monkeypoint]

I got a media bag for the same reason! I just didn't want to do anything at all until I checked with the knowledgeable people here. Thanks so much!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Monkeypoint Feels like you’re fighting against yourself using a substrate that lowers pH and then trying to add crushed coral to bring it back up. Maybe they’ll balance each other out, but I believe that a stable tank is better than one that fluctuates all over the place. 

[Monkeypoint]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Let me try to find you a few resources, but generally speaking... no you don't feed them every day.

How new is the tank?  You can also feed repashy in this fashion without turning into gel if the tank in question doesn't have a ton of biofilm growth.
 

 

I know it's a lot, but check those all out.  Please feel free to ask any questions.

 

On 2/8/2023 at 3:34 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Monkeypoint Feels like you’re fighting against yourself using a substrate that lowers pH and then trying to add crushed coral to bring it back up. Maybe they’ll balance each other out, but I believe that a stable tank is better than one that fluctuates all over the place. 

Agree. It was a dumb move on my part. I regret having started with the Fluval but it’s too late for a do over. I’m hoping the PH will rise gradually and over time, the substrate is going to max out. But yeah, definitely at cross purposes over here in newbie land. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Monkeypoint all good! I’ve learned the most from my mistakes. 
 

For what it’s worth, my water is soft, low pH, and like 0 buffer and my shrimp and inverts thrive. 

[Monkeypoint]

On 2/8/2023 at 4:50 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Monkeypoint all good! I’ve learned the most from my mistakes. 
 

For what it’s worth, my water is soft, low pH, and like 0 buffer and my shrimp and inverts thrive. 

That's super reassuring! From now on, I'm going to stop tinkering. I did a 30% water change today to bring nitrates down. Ammonia and Nitrite has been consistently at 0. I never thought I would love shrimp so much. I could literally just sit in front of the tank and watch them scurry about all day.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Based on my water most people would probably say that I should be keeping Caridina shrimp, but my cherry colony has been thriving for a couple years at this point. I also got them locally bred to begin with so that can’t hurt. 
 

I’m gonna be converting that tank to a blackwater/botanical style aquarium so I’m excited to see if the cherries can handle it considering we’re basically already there without the excess tannins (tank currently has cholla wood and has the whole time it’s been set up), and if they don’t it could open up a whole new shrimp world for me to play in. 

[JessLynne7]

I have coral in all my tanks. Best thing I’ve ever done. I had issuing with oh dropping and my cycle crashing. The crushed coral has stopped that from happening