Substrate: Lime/Marble/Shell (003)

[cichlidbreeder]

Is there any substrates that can keep the ph of ur tanks 7.8 or more all the time

cheers

Vince

[j.s]

Not sure about whether these will keep your ph at 7.8 as ive never tried them, but from what ive heard, crushed marble, crushed shells and limestone sand all have good buffering capacity. Crushed coral is good too but it will cost you an arm and a leg and their are also some ethical reasons to stear clear from it. Essentially what you want to get is a substance that consists of carbonates. For example, shells are predominantly Calcium Carbonate, the calcium will help increase the general hardness of the water and the carbonate will help increase its buffering capacity. I've also hear that crushed oyster shells work well too.

The key to getting the best results is to have as much water running over the buffering substance as possible. Most people do this by putting it in their filters where water is constantly flowing through. Good water circulation and airation in the tank also helps.

Hope this helped!

[katanaone]

everything you asked for + cheap & common....shell grit.

commonly used in bird avairies and for chooks etc. available at any shop that would sell this type gear.

only drawback is that it is not as good to look at. but im sure if you mix it with gravel etc. you can fix that.

cheers.

by the way like other substrate buffers, it doesn't set your pH at the 7.8 mark "all the time" it just acts as a buffer against drastic changes in pH.

[Guest Gutty]

I use crushed marble as a substrate(though not alot of it) and i have a few shells in my canister. I add no other PH buffers or salts, just water and dechlorinater.

Keeps my PH at around 7.6-7.8

Lata

Matt

[YeW]

I use washed Washed River sand + shell grit (buy from Woolworths).

Works.