Coral as a PH buffer...........YES/NO

[SHARK]

Good evening to all.

I have just set up a tank for growing plants up, plus have some Red Ramshorn snails to keep things tidy, i have read that the PH cant go to acidic or it will corrode the shells which in turn will kill them.

So if i put some small bits of dead coral in my filter for the water to pass by, do you think this would help.

coral is a type of limestone.......YES/NO

Thanks

SHARK

[sharn]

i could be totally off the mark but you want the water to have a fair amount of calcium in there cause thats what keeps the shells good.

i beleive coral or crushed coral is often used in african tanks to keep the ph and kh up so would assume that would do a good job

[fishboi]

YES any type of crush shells would do the job

[Ira]

Crushed coral should work fine. Bird grit might be cheaper though.

[candy]

shark i think i have some crushed coral sand somewhere, i will have a look for u then u dont have to buy any as mine is just left over from setting up a tank.

will look this weekend and let u know

[Damiana]

Coral isn't a type of stone, its the skeleton of a sea creature, but it still helps buffer/alkalinize like limestone.

[Caryl]

Remember the plants will prefer slightly acidic conditions though

[Warren]

As long as the pH is between 6.5 and 6.8 and the GH is high enough the snails should be fine. You want a decent GH for growing plants as well. Salts of Mg, K and Ca basically make up you GH and have little effect on pH.

Plants like 6.5-6.8 best. If the plants are growing really well you won't need snails anyway. Just a gentle siphon on the surface of the gravel every week or two is enough to keep things clean (as long as there's no undergravel filter).

[Krissie]

if you are after coral, i have some here. Not sand but pieces.

I'd be happy to pack some up and post it to you...

Just need a size, and an address.

Cheers

[PETEYPLECO]

I have a large piece of driftwood in my tank that was keeping the ph down and I have added a small amount of oyster shell in a media bag in my external filters upper basket and now it is constant 7.0.

This may also help you.