# Crushed Corals?



## aznix (Jan 20, 2011)

Guys i have a question about crushed corals acting as water buffers...

Is it the same coral that you would normally picked up at the beach or it is something that can only be brought at LFS?

If its just on the beach, obviously its a dead coral, so i just wash them in tap water and crushed then put in the tank?


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Crushed coral is just that, coral that has been crushed. Before being used in an aquarium it needs to be washed to remove any organic matter (surf works good for that). Crushed coral is basically Calcium Carbonate, a chemical buffer. It keeps the ph from falling too fast.


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## aznix (Jan 20, 2011)

so any corals found in beaches are ok?

i was planning on putting that stuff in my tank.. however, is there a thing thats TOO MUCH? i mean, is it ok in any amount (large amount in particular).

2nd, putting that stuff in the tank will help so that the pH ownt drop too much right?

I have a flowerhorn in the tank and i dont know it pH level and i dont have any source/LFS to buy test kit here in my town. (third world country lol)



thanks.


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

I wouldn't put anything you find outside into your aquarium, no matter how sure you are it's clean. There's far too many things (especially on the edge of the ocean) that can come into your aquarium and cause tons of issues with your fish. If you don't know what the pH of your aquarium is, don't go putting crushed coral into your filter, as you can cause a very unsafe rise in pH, possibly into fatal levels.


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## aznix (Jan 20, 2011)

thank you sir.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Good question actually. I would fathom a wager that if you properly sanitize and sterilize it, it should be good to go. After all, the stuff we buy in the bags are the same as you would find on the beach.


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Except, for the most part, grown and harvested specifically for that purpose so they know they're not contaminated.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Aznix.

Yes you can use it, just ask Paul B on here. If you are using dead coral for an aquarium, I would first boil it, then let it dry, crush it and boil it in a strainer. It will kill and flush out even the smallest crud/baddie inside the coral.

I got a box of it here, I dont use it I got it with a big equipment buy last year but its able to be used in a aquarium.
There are ALOT of cichlid hobbists from your country Im suprised you cant find the test stuff there, check online you will find tons of fish clubs in your world.

I keep south american cichlids(discus,angels,catfish and tetras) and use ALOT of stuff including animal skulls and antlers in my aquariums and I have no issues with em.
If you just prepare them correctly (net search will give you many to look at) you will be fine.









every hardscape but the terra cotta pot came from local watersheds and forests.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Calcium carbonate starts dissolving into calcium and carbonate at pH below 7.9 or so.

In marine tanks they use pure calcium carbonate to add calcium (and carbonate) to replace what use used up by growing hard corals and calcius algae (corraline, halemida, etc). To do that they use a reactor with carbon dioxide added to lower pH down below 7 or so.

Im my 55g marine I used crushed oyster shells as filter material in my DIY wet dry. Calcium initially rose then alk (carbonate hardness) started droping down so I eventually had to dose both.

In Fw tanks from what I hear calcium carbonate substrates are used to raise pH (and hardness I think) in hard water tanks for things like cichlids.

In my planted tanks (both fw and marine) pH rises to 8.4-8.8 (purple on api high range test kit) because the plant life is lowering the carbon dioxide in the water. In the fw tanks kh is 4 degrees and on marine I dose baking sode to keep kh around 8-10 degrees.

Just some ramblings.

Worth at most .02


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