substrate

hi

i want to know if i can use crushed coral as substrate for freshwater tank. my lfs told me it would rise my ph to 8.5-9. is this true?

 

Yes, it is true. Crushed coral will buffer your water. If you use Crushed Coral for a Rift Lake Cichlid tank (Malawi's or Tanganyikans) then it is ideal, but for a tank that has soft water species, it's not a good thing.

 

+1 , buffers the water.

 

so wanted the look of it in my community tank.

thanks for the reply

 

I use crushed coral in my filters to help buffer the ph in my tank. I add CO2 which makes the water acidic, so the crushed coral reacts with the acidic water and buffers it back down for me.