Lower PH in aquarium with Crushed Coral

[chinhw]

Hi,
1) I have a tank with tetra.
2) Tetra lives well in acidic water.
3) The water from the tap is alkaline so I tried to lower to PH by adding black water extract but the PH remains as alkaline.
4) I think it has to do with the crushed coral in my tank.

Question:
a) Should I remove the crushed coral from my tank?
b) If I remove the crushed coral, how do I buffer the PH?

[Shadow]

yes you should, coral will increase your pH. without coral, check your kH, aim for 2-4 that should buffer the pH

[wongce]

crushed coral will increase PH....remove it


whats the PH of your tank water? if higher than tap water, do a simple WC + add in black water extract or ketapang leaves... PH will come down slowly..

[chinhw]

@Shadow
Thanks. I will remove the crushed coral. But first I need to identify which one if the crushed coral.

@wongce
The PH in my tank is lower than my tap water. I guess the crushed coral is the one keeping the PH up.

[David]

Try putting ehiem peat medium into your filter.....and remove the crushed corals

[chinhw]

@David
I have blackwater extract and some ketapang leaves I picked up this morning. If these don't work, I will try out the ehiem peat medium.

[barmby]

Wait. Did I see David of Balestier??! How are you?

Remove the coral because you cannot control the level of pH it raises.

However, you may add carbonate soda to buffer the pH.

Good: Shrimps grow harder shell

[David]

Hello barmby

Yes its me.......LOL!!!

[barmby]

Wow. One of the founder of AQ. It has been ages. Last met was at Bioplast (System & Control Engineering Co.)