Quick Question

[Gidge]

Hey guys,

Just got a quick question for you all. I am starting up a new freshwater tank for my Cichlids, and got given some dead/dried out coral that was in a salt water tank.

My question to you lovely people is; what is the right way to do a salt clean to make the coral safe to put in with my Cichlids. I currently have them in a large tub of freshwater.

Any suggestions are more then welcome, thank you in advance!

 

[Gidge]

Seriously need some help guys!

 

[MBOU]

I assume you mean the hard skeleton of stony corals!?

If so, only use it if you have African cichlids like malawis etc, the skeleton from corals is calcium based (hence high calcium for stony corals etc) and will raise the pH and American Cichlids wont apprciate it at all....

Other than that, boiling water poured over them a few times and swished about to make sure there is no creepy crawlies or dead coral left in it...

 

[Gidge]

Thanks so much for replying! I have African Cichlids, no need to worry So basically the cold water they're sitting in is doing nothing?

 

[Brett_dale]

i had some coral skeletons and marine rock left over from when i stripped and sold of my marine setup, To use it in fw i probably went overboard, i scrubbed n soaked it for a wk in tap water, then baked it at a low temp in the oven for 4 hours (word of warning this stinks like burnt sea and i dont think i would do it again, would probably be much better to boil it a little in a large saucepan but my pieces were to large), scrubbed n soaked again in de-chlorinated water with a little filter running to keep the water moving and from going stale for 2 wks. Its now drying out waiting to go in a multi tank (yet to setup). Id recomend you keep an eye on ammonia as any dead/cooked crawlers on it will no doubt still decompose and add to the bio load.

 

[Gidge]

Hmmm some good ideas there. I'm fairly sure the coral was already dead when he had it in his tank I'm assuming that's possible. In that case, I think I just need to get the salt to leech out of it, and doubt there is any critters in there. Awesome info, thanks!