Getting there...

[Philbe]

Hi all, with my new 90gal tank I am planning on having labs or peacocks ( I have a while to decide). I am wondering if using crushed coral as the only substrate is okay. My ph out of the tap is in the 7.5 range so I was wondering if I need the extra boost in ph. Thanks.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

You can add crushed coral to any substrate really. They like sand because its in thier natural habitat- but sand is kind of a pain in the butt to work with. You can get gravel/sand and mix some crushed coral into it- or just add a stocking of crushed coral to your filter. Anywhere where the coral is going to leach into the water. Or you could just use crushed coral as the only substrate! (might be a bit bright though, ;) ).

It will take a few weeks to change the water chemistry though- so in the mean time you can use a small amount of baking soda to raise the ph. Add some and test- and repeat till the desired ph is achieved.

HTH :)

[Philbe]

thanks...I was going to use play box sand but was told that it could have little bits of glass in it. So I got the coral insted. I like the price of the sand better though.

[valerie]

I know lots of people that use play box sand in their tanks without any problems.

SO have you decided on what sort of fish you want? You can mix labs with peacocks.

[PumaWard]

My tangs love the sand, I would recommend it for almost any bottom dwelling cichlid.

I have found sand to be easier to maintain than gravel, with good filtration nothing has time to settle on the bottom and you never have to vacuume.

[Philbe]

I like the idea of peacocks and labs as from what I have read have an even temperment. I have an xp3 and as the stocking picks up I will add and AC300 for a little help in cleaning.
I like the light brown color of the play sand , seems a little more natural. What about the whole ph thing. Will the fish get used to whatever they are in (within reason) or as my lfs says, they do better in a higher ph.

[Philbe]

I am going to go with either the play sand or building sand. If I have a problem with PH then I can add a little bit to one of the baskets in the filter. There, that was easy.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Remember to adjust to your desired ph before adding the fish so you don't shock them by

A) putting them into a low/neutral ph when they've been most likely living in a high ph environment

B) then raising ph and shocking them again


PS- remember to rinse the sand (play sand anyways) about a million times to get rid of all the dust


:)

[Philbe]

Thanks for the usual..I'll post a pic when I get it set up.