Months ago I had a ph crash and to prevent a future one I added crushed coral to me canister filter. Well to anyone considering this I recommend against it. My ph is now 8.0. I haven't checked it in a week. I just set the tank up again after moving it and on day one my ph was an almost perfect 7.2. Checked it today after seeing my sucker and a darter flahing (scratching itself against gravel and other objects) and it was off the normal ph testing chart. Used the high range test and that is what I got. 8.0
Removed it and did a 20% water change. Will check again in 4-5 days and add peat to the filter if necassry.
Crushed Coral to manage ph was a bad idea
Started by
Guest_lozgod_*
, Jan 20 2010 09:58 PM
9 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 20 January 2010 - 11:10 PM
I don't see pH 8 being bad, a lot of streams in the southern Appalachians share that value. If you raised the conductivity of the water, often measured as total dissolved solids, that could be a shock to fish not used to markedly higher levels. It really depends on what the fish are used to.
#3
Guest_Gene2308_*
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Posted 21 January 2010 - 06:56 AM
What's the pH and alkailinity of the water out of the tap?
Many fish will tolerate a pH outside of their normal range provided it is fairly stable...the large fluctuation is stressful.
Had you tested for nitrate prior to the crash?
Many fish will tolerate a pH outside of their normal range provided it is fairly stable...the large fluctuation is stressful.
Had you tested for nitrate prior to the crash?
#4
Guest_ashtonmj_*
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Posted 21 January 2010 - 08:26 AM
As Bruce said, pH 8 isn't that bad. You've got to get out of the mindset of "perfect balance" that is drilled into peoples heads from tropical keeping. I bet you'd be surprised how many of the streams in your area, likely where you got your fish from, have pH from 7.5 to 9.5.
#5
Guest_worldf_*
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Posted 21 January 2010 - 09:15 AM
Yep, I used crushed coral in most of my tanks without issues.
#6
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 21 January 2010 - 01:37 PM
The scratching behavior sounds like early symptoms of ich or other ecto-parasites, not due to pH 8.0. I use just 1 or 2 teasp of crushed coral in the filter for buffering on a 20 to 30 gal tank for soft-water fish. For fish that like harder water, including most shiners, dace and darters, you really can't "overdose" on crushed coral.
#7
Guest_mudminnow_*
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Posted 21 January 2010 - 05:02 PM
I agree that the crushed coral and a pH of 8.0 is not a bad thing. I once kept a bunch of South American fish like Cardinal Tetras and such in pH 8.5 for years without any observable ill effect. Stability is the key. But if you don’t like the crushed coral, you could do what I do to help keep the pH up and stable. I add Arm & Hammer baking soda to my water when I do my water changes. I add just enough to keep the pH up at around 7.3 until the water change. Otherwise, with my unusual well water that has such low alkalinity, the pH will fall from its starting point of 6.5 from the faucet to 5.0 or less by the next water change.
#8
Guest_lozgod_*
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Posted 21 January 2010 - 09:24 PM
The scratching isn't happening as often as it was initially. Hopefully it was a temporary thing. The tap water ph is on the money 7.0.
The ph crash was unexplained. At the time i had fluctuating ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings going on. I researched it and found it a somewhat common occurance with soil based substrate which is what I had at the time.
My concern for the ph isn't so much about the fish. Their behavior made me check all of my levels on everything but it is primarily for the health of the plants.
The ph crash was unexplained. At the time i had fluctuating ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings going on. I researched it and found it a somewhat common occurance with soil based substrate which is what I had at the time.
My concern for the ph isn't so much about the fish. Their behavior made me check all of my levels on everything but it is primarily for the health of the plants.
Edited by lozgod, 21 January 2010 - 09:26 PM.
#9
Guest_nativeplanter_*
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Posted 22 January 2010 - 01:18 PM
I forget which plants you have, but pH 8 should be fine for most species.
If the soil that you used had a lot of organic material in it, the pH would lower as it broke down and released CO2. This would be especially true at night if you also had a high plant load, since the plants would also be releasing CO2. Good circulation/aeration is a good way of dealing with this if you have that problem again.
If the soil that you used had a lot of organic material in it, the pH would lower as it broke down and released CO2. This would be especially true at night if you also had a high plant load, since the plants would also be releasing CO2. Good circulation/aeration is a good way of dealing with this if you have that problem again.
#10
Guest_Gene2308_*
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Posted 25 January 2010 - 01:14 PM
Good circulation/aeration is a good way of dealing with this if you have that problem again.
Yep
I've never used crushed coral or aragonite simply because it's expensive, or has larger diameter than I like and tends to trap a lot of crap. My pH and hardness is probably high enough that none of these substrates would dissolve at a high enough rate to make any difference. I use silica-based sand for $3 a bag from Lowe's or Home Depot.
A pH crash from nitrogen cycling issues should be dealt with using means other than provided by using crushed coral.
Edited by Gene2308, 25 January 2010 - 01:15 PM.
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