Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

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TJay
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Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by TJay »

Hi, i am trying to raise my kh and my ph as they are both too low. I have been advised on using aragonite so i have bought some today. I have replaced a 1/4 of my sand with aragonite and i am going to see what effect this has on my levels. Is this the correct way of doing it? Could i overshoot the target of a ph of 8 if i added to much? I have an internal filter so i can not run it through that.

Salinity. .005
PH. 6.6
KH. <3d
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by Pufferpunk »

What are those levels in your tap water? Yes, this should be an effective way of raising your levels & keeping them more stable.
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by TJay »

Thanks, It comes out of the tap at 6.8 and somwhere around 3-4. Can i over do it by adding too much?
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by bertie 83 »

So long as your substrate bed is not too deep to manage you should not be able to overdo it as such. Many people use arognite solely as their substrate without complications.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by defool89 »

bertie 83 wrote:So long as your substrate bed is not too deep to manage you should not be able to overdo it as such. Many people use arognite solely as their substrate without complications.


I use 100% crushed coral with no problem :D and +1 to berties comment

Fish rather have stability in regards to water parameters, as long as youre not fluctuating your ph by adding or removing substrate than 100% aragonite would be fine too
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by Pufferpunk »

I used to use CC as a substrate but it has been found to be too much of a detritus trap.
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by defool89 »

Pufferpunk wrote:I used to use CC as a substrate but it has been found to be too much of a detritus trap.

Oh god, the packaging said no rinsing necessary...what a load of crap. I believed them and was up to my neck with fury as soon as i put in the water. No matter how many 100% wc I did, and I did over a dozen, the water turned white as soon as I placed new water in with no signs of settling. I had to remove all the crushed coral and rinse it for 20 minutes in my bath tub....what a pain it was for it to only be a 20g tank! I have never used arognite sand but wished i did.
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by Pufferpunk »

Aragonite needs good rinsing, too.
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by sgtmyers88 »

I did a 75-25 blend of aragonite and crushed coral when I converted my 55G to saltwater. The GSP's like to chew on the tiny bits of sea shell fragments mixed in with the sand. lol
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by TJay »

Thanks for all the advice! I will replace the rest over the next few days and post my results! :D
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Re: Couple of questions to raise kh and ph

Post by RTR »

Mixing aragonite and crushed coral is extremely poor practice, as the aragonite is generally smaller in particle size. This wold have the CC on top of and blocking the effect of the aragonite. That is a poor combo IME. If aragonite is mixed with any other substrate,the aragonite needs to be the largest grain size used.

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