Coral Sand

**Jas** · 28th Jan 2004, 11:31

I have 2 ft tank which the base is filled with coral sand. Any possibility of having plants inside the tank. Thks.

**vinz** · 28th Jan 2004, 11:58

Should be ok for most plants.

**jackychun** · 25th May 2016, 22:46

I happen found this topic during the search for Coral Sand.
Can Coral Sand be used for fresh water tank or only suitable for marine tank?

What will happen if we use the sand for fresh water tank? Will the pH be raised up? And up to roughly to what pH range?
In case we have some guppy or molly which interested in high pH environment, would it be suitable?

Thanks all.

**vannel** · 26th May 2016, 08:48

Hmm. Not sure what specifically coral sand is, but I imagine it'll be crushed corals in fine bits.

Whilst guppies do enjoy slightly higher alkalinity, there has been a number of Asian breeders who have claimed it also results in lower quality caudal/dorsal fins.. Don't think there has been any concrete evidence to prove this, but the old method of using coral chips as a pH buffer has now been replaced by the addition of sodium bicarbonate instead.

Your mileage may vary for other high/slightly higher pH fish. The above is more specific to guppies in general.

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**jackychun** · 26th May 2016, 09:16

Originally Posted by vannel

Hmm. Not sure what specifically coral sand is, but I imagine it'll be crushed corals in fine bits.

Whilst guppies do enjoy slightly higher alkalinity, there has been a number of Asian breeders who have claimed it also results in lower quality caudal/dorsal fins.. Don't think there has been any concrete evidence to prove this, but the old method of using coral chips as a pH buffer has now been replaced by the addition of sodium bicarbonate instead.

Your mileage may vary for other high/slightly higher pH fish. The above is more specific to guppies in general.

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Thanks vannel for your reply. In that case I'd will need to study or try more to see if the result is OK.

Is there anyone else has the experience of using coral sand?

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**Urban Aquaria** · 27th May 2016, 13:41

You'll actually have to find out whether its real coral sand... not just white colored sand. They are different.

Coral sand will raise pH and GH and keep them high, if your are keeping higher pH livestock (ie. african rift lake cichilids, brackish fish etc), then its okay. Most hardy plants can also adapt to higher pH hardwater conditions, though the more delicate demanding plants may not do as well, especially if they have been grown in lower pH environments.

**jackychun** · 27th May 2016, 13:52

Originally Posted by Urban Aquaria

You'll actually have to find out whether its real coral sand... not just white colored sand. They are different.

Coral sand will raise pH and GH and keep them high, if your are keeping higher pH livestock (ie. african rift lake cichilids, brackish fish etc), then its okay. Most hardy plants can also adapt to higher pH hardwater conditions, though the more delicate demanding plants may not do as well, especially if they have been grown in lower pH environments.

Thanks UA. I have tried to clean the sand quite thoroughly at least more than 10 times but the water cannot be clear after few seconds. It takes few minutes to settle and clear. I will try to clean more to see how it goes.

I also try to do a quick test on the tap water and water with sand (left overnight). It seems like the pH does not really different much from the 2 samples, ant it is around 7.6+ in pH range (max is 7.6 in the colour band that I can see.

).

I tend to just keep a few guppies and endlers fishes in this small tank. So I guess they might be suitable with the hard water like this.

For flora, since my plan for this tank is low tech, it will be only Java Fern, Java Moss and Anubias Nana Petit, which can be grown without substrate. Does high pH really affect those plants?

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**jackychun** · 27th May 2016, 13:56

This is the test on the water with sand (left) and tap water (right). The colour has a bit different and I guess it should be 7.6+. Since this is just a quick test, I did not de-chlorine the water and just test it directly.

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**Urban Aquaria** · 27th May 2016, 15:12

Your current results are from the low range pH test, the strong blue color indicates a possibility that they could be higher than 7.6. For example, one could be 7.8 while another could be 8.4, but its not shown in this low range test.

You'll need to use the high range pH test to measure and confirm the actual result. The API Freshwater Master Test Kit should come with both the low range and high range pH tests (those are 2 separate tests).

Here is an example of the API Freshwater Master Test Kit test chart with high range pH info:

Photo from Google Images.

It is also good to measure the GH and TDS before and after to see if those have any changes too.

If you find that the pH, GH and TDS of the tap water versus the water in the container (soaked with sand for a few days) are almost the same, then it might not be coral sand, could just be inert sand. Its also possible if you use only abit of the sand, even if its coral sand, the pH and GH buffering effects are not as significant too.

**jackychun** · 27th May 2016, 20:10

Thanks UA. Unfortunately, I do not have the High range pH test kit. So I assumed it would be around 8.0 more or less. I might use just a bit to create the bright ground for the tank theme then.

BTW, I have tried to clean more on the sand and put in the tank to see if the water has been clear. After an hour or two, water becomes crystal clear. Would it be able to use now?

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**Urban Aquaria** · 27th May 2016, 21:12

Clear water is good, means most of the dust and particles have been removed or can settle down, rather than stay suspended and cloud the water column.

All those tests are just to see what effect the sand has on the water parameters (if any)... if you are keeping hardy livestock that can adapt to variable parameters or naturally live in higher pH hardwater conditions, then its not much of an issue.

But if you are keeping livestock that are more sensitive or require a lower pH softwater environment, then have to take more care of what type of substrate you are adding into the tank.

So it all just depends on your intended tank setup and livestock.