Best Material to Buffer the Water

[nagukush]

Hi Friends,

Hope all is well and great !

Friends, just wanted to request you to kindly guide me on which of the following is the best sources to Buffer and Maintain a High pH in a Frontosa Tank. My design is such that I cant use these material inside the tank, but I'm going to place a small portion of it in an Internal Filter.

The following are the options that I have in hand -

1. Freshwater Clam Shells which look like these - http://blog.midwestlakes.org/freshwater clam.JPG
2. A Dead & Dried Coral that I had bought and crushed in to small chunks
3.Various Small broken Shells

I would like to use the best out of the above or if there is any thing even better because I'm going to use only a very small portion of it inside an internal filter.

Will be a great help if you can kindly guide me on this, Friends.
Thanks and Regards
Kush

 

[hebby]

hi i keep discus and i have to keep my ph at 6.5 and i use ro water to lower my ph and coral gravel to raise my ph all i do is put a small amount in a nettedbag and drop it in the water and keep testing and adding or removing the coral gravel untill i get my 6.5 ph u could the the same till u get your ph u can also put this in an external filter

 

[Coler]

I would recommend crushed coral gravel.

 

[Lupin]

If you opt to maintain a consistently high pH, I suggest you check your KH (carbonate hardness) and GH (general hardness). Those are the variables that will influence the outcome of your pH as they are the buffering properties that help stabilize your pH.

You are looking for calcium carbonate which increses both the pH and hardness levels. This is best accomplished using marine seashells, dead corals, limestones and aragonite substrate. Freshwater clam and snail shells will not help much as they are not largely made up of calcium carbonate therefore rendering their purpose rather pointless.

 

[rogersb]

I would suggest baking soda. Raises pH to a max of 8.4 so there is no chance of overdoing it. I have used limestone and dead marine coral and have not been impressed with its abilities to achieve a high pH.

 

[Pittbull]

Above advice is great but Kush you will have to decide whats going to work for you and how much of this work will you be consistent with.. The baking soda is a good ideal but you have to be consistent with it at every water change..

As for my setups i maintain a mixture of crushed coral and aragonite sand along with Texas Holey Rock.. To achieve this you may have to order from outside of your country due to availability in your area and this will not be cheap for you but in my books i think it is a must.. Good luck friend..

Oh anything in regards to the ocean shells and dead / dried corals will aid in buffers.. Freshwater shells like Lupin stated would be useless..