Coral Sand

[JackoUK]

I was wondering how much coral sand i'd need in my 10 uk gal tank to raise the pH to around 7.0 from about 5.5? Also i was wondering whereabouts i should put it? Would it be okay with the normal sand on the tank base or would it be better in the filter? By the way its a trickle filter. Thankyou in advance.

 

[JackoUK]

Anyone any suggestions?

 

[dthoffsett]

Coral as a substrate will help some, but it is much better used in the filter. As far as how much, you'll have to experiment, there's really not standard amount for every tank. Another thing you could try is to add baking soda to your water when you do water changes. Again, it's something you'll have to experiment with to find out how much you need to reach your desired PH.
Note: If you have fish already in the tank, raise your PH very SLOWLY as PH changes are very stressful to fish.

 

[Danno]

Where are you getting your water? Is it tap?

 

[JackoUK]

Where are you getting your water? Is it tap?

Yes it's tap water. It comes out at about 5.0 - 5.5 pH.

Coral as a substrate will help some, but it is much better used in the filter. As far as how much, you'll have to experiment, there's really not standard amount for every tank. Another thing you could try is to add baking soda to your water when you do water changes. Again, it's something you'll have to experiment with to find out how much you need to reach your desired PH.
Note: If you have fish already in the tank, raise your PH very SLOWLY as PH changes are very stressful to fish.

I've put a a bit in my filter and it's fantastic stuff. It raised the pH from 5.0 to 6.8 in less than 24 hours, don't worry there was no fish in the tank at the time. It also increased the GH and KH to more suitable levels too. Would recommend it's use to anyone.

 

[dthoffsett]

I'm glad to hear it worked for you.

 

[Amunet]

We're going to have to do this for our tanks as well.
pH in tap comes out at 7.5, but once the water sits for a bit in the tanks, it goes to 6.0 or less (need to get a better pH tester).
Anyways... good to hear that this method does work really well!
How much did you add to get the pH up that much?

 

[JackoUK]

We're going to have to do this for our tanks as well.
pH in tap comes out at 7.5, but once the water sits for a bit in the tanks, it goes to 6.0 or less (need to get a better pH tester).
Anyways... good to hear that this method does work really well!
How much did you add to get the pH up that much?

To be honest I didn't weigh it or measure it properly in any way. I'd say it was probably about 4 tablespoons worth for a 10 UK gallon tank.