Anyone use crushed oyster shells to raise PH?
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aaronfeeney
Active Member
wow my CC keeps my tank Ph at a steady 8.2-8.0 starting with 6.5 tapwater
We have a guy that comes into our local store and he uses oyster shells but doesn't crush them. He just uses them full and silicones them together to make hiding holes for the fish. He said they still release the pH he needs I guess. Just and idea. 
ShortyKiloGyrl said:We have a guy that comes into our local store and he uses oyster shells but doesn't crush them. He just uses them full and silicones them together to make hiding holes for the fish. He said they still release the pH he needs I guess. Just and idea.
Ok, sweet. Just needed some confidence it will work.
Thank you!
I can't promise it'll work because it is just word of mouth. But we have ALOT of local oyster farms around here and he doesn't use coral I guess. Just the oyster shells.
lol Well that's good to know
hbluehunter
New Member
Just curious how much you added to your tank ?? I know I had to add 20-25 lbs to mine to hold it at 7.6 I think..
well...I remembered a pinch of CC would stabilize PH in a 10G at 7.hbluehunter said:
So, in the 180G, I added about 10 teaspoons of CC (before I ran out), 5 teaspoon of oyster shells.
Before this PH crash: I added about 5 teaspoons in my canister. PH stayed at 6.8/7.0 for about 3 months.
Also, baking soda mixed well into water helps pH. My boyfriend uses that.
hbluehunter
New Member
I used to do the whole baking soda thing but it wasn't good for my fish to be on a ph rollercoaster.. That's why I did the crushed coral and now I haven't had to do anything with baking soda for a year now.
If you want to use them whole as small caves that's a great use for them, just don't use them with clumsy scaleless fish in the tank as they can get sharp. I use them as smaller African cichlid hidey holes especially when theres a big size difference in the tank.
I'm 85% sure they raise the GH and that in turn raises the PH.
Any calcium based organic does the same job as coral. Limestone, bone, shell, coral.... they all achieve the same thing in a tank.
I'm 85% sure they raise the GH and that in turn raises the PH.
Any calcium based organic does the same job as coral. Limestone, bone, shell, coral.... they all achieve the same thing in a tank.
I would raise it up with some bakin soda.... then dump in a bunch of cichlid salt to raise KH, and GH, this will keep the PH maintained at watever you get it with the bakin soda.
crushed coral/crushed shells wouldnt raise my 100gallon alone... but they helped keep it buffered at 8.0 once I got it there with API Ph increase/bakin soda.
crushed coral/crushed shells wouldnt raise my 100gallon alone... but they helped keep it buffered at 8.0 once I got it there with API Ph increase/bakin soda.