Increasing hardness safely?

[Dazydaizee]

The thing about crushed coral in the substrate is that as its pores get coated with algae and muck, it will not work as well any longer. That's why the most reliable way to use it is in a media bag in your filter

Makes sense. I did put it in a filter bag in my filter and I bought a full 15lb bag of crushed coral (smallest they had), so I have plenty to swap out and additional filter bags to alternate with when needed. Also I figured I could use some to soak in replacement water before I do a water change.

You can add cuttlebones for inverts to graze on - some readily do, some not so much. You probably won't notice much change in your water chemistry from it. A piece of limestone in the tank (such as Texas holey rock) would probably impact the chemistry more.

I'll probably give the cuttlebone a try. I looked for limestone while I was out today but didn't find any. Can I use this in combination with the coral, or should I remove the crushed coral before adding limestone? I know it probably depends, but if they're commonly better together or separate it'd be good to know. Also, any sources for limestone would be appreciated...

Thanks

 

[platytudes]

You may be able to find it in your garden shops, it depends on where you live. If you like the look of Texas holey rock, you're probably out of luck unless you live in Texas It's kind of expensive, but look around the classifieds here and on Aquabid.com. You could also see what they've got in a fish store that sells saltwater goods - they often have base rock which I'm almost positive raises pH - can anyone confirm this?

We have this stuff here in Florida:
http://www.reefmaker-ecosystems.com/images/Coquina 5.JPG
It's kind of sharp, so be careful what fish you keep with it!

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

I have read about this as well, so I have offered spinach so far (of course I plan to offer a variety, I just started off slow). Also, I have some sinking crab food with calcium that I offer the shrimp & the snails do eat this as well.

Spinach is not bad on calcium. Broccoli is a bit higher IIRC, and my snails seem to like it better.
I also use the sinking crab food and I think it's pretty good and they seem to like it.
If you go look in the freshwater invert section there are also some recipes for making your own snail food.

I put a cuttlebone in my tank but my snail doesn't seem to care about it. Though I've heard they may only nibble on it if they absolutely need it, so maybe he's getting enough calcium already.

I looked for limestone while I was out today but didn't find any.

Look at Walmart, Home Depot, Garden stores, or any other home improvement stores. They usually carry limestone rock for various applications. But since it's in full rock form it is not going to dissolve as easily and may do nothing for your water (I've used stuff I found outside in my tanks and it did not change my gH or kH at all). How it works is going to depend a lot on what type of limestone you get.

You'd be better off with crushed coral or something for the type of application you're considering.

 

[fishorama]

I use ~1 Tbsp crushed coral in a piece of pantyhose placed in the filter. I just rinse it when I rinse the media. I'm out of GH/KH test ATM but my pond snails & shrimp seem healthier. I had a pH crash from low-no KH (seasonal) tapwater. The high nitrates will drop your pH too. Small but frequent water changes will help get it stabilized without too drastic of change all at once.

I sometimes use a very small amount of baking soda in my discus tank with large frequent WCs. The plants will "use up" a bit of KH as will the nitrification process, a temporary fix at the amount I use, ~1/2 tsp for a 55g. But avoid the yoyo effect. Good luck!

I also use ken's veggie pellets with calcium so the inverts get some in their diet. You could also look into "snello" recipes in the invert section.

 

[Dazydaizee]

So I've been testing since I added the coral to the filter 2 days ago... My gH has increased to 4 degrees or 71.6ppm vs the previous 44.75ppm. The kH is finally registering at 1.5 degrees. I did start off with more than 1 TBSP crushed coral since I filled it before reading the recommendation. But it's been stable the past 2 days, so I'm just taking a wait & see approach, rather than messing with it more.
The pH is now between 7.0 -7.2, which is about what my tap runs, so it's what I'm hoping to maintain (to avoid fluctuation w/ water changes and unstable pH overall).

I found some small pieces of limestone (texas holey rock) for a good price and reasonable shipping fees (vs the great price and outrageous shipping I also came across). I want to monitor the parameters for a while to be sure they are stable before potentially adding the limestone.. I plan to also soak the limestone separately and monitor parameters to see what the potential effects are.