pH in SW aquariums

[Phantom Thief]

Because in FW tanks, you normally don't add shells because they alter the pH. So SW would have a pretty high pH with all the shells and rocks in it, wouldnt it?

P.T.

 

[Navarre]

The PH of a saltwater tank should range between 8.0 - 8.3 ideally. My tank sits on 8.2.

Liverock, sand etc will help to buffer the water to keep it at this PH range.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Does putting shells into the aquarium affect the pH of SW tanks?

P.T.

 

[Navarre]

NOt much, you will need far greater quantities to be honest. Araginite sand is made up of crushed corals and shell, this will doa far better job than shells in teh tank.
However, you need lots of different sizes of shells in the tank so that hermit crabs can move to larger homes without attacking each other or snails.

Edit: Sorry, when i meant not much i was thinking of a tank of my size (130 Gallons complete) obviously a smaller tank will hve more effect from a shell bit its by no means a stable way to keep the PH high.