# crushed coral



## Newobsession (Nov 17, 2010)

hi all. Hoping you can answer a question for me being as I'm new to the cichlid side of the hobby.
Does crushed coral lose it's ability over time to raise ph? Setting up a 65 gal cichlid tank. I want to do the bottom with sand, but I keep reading people.saying crushed cor.is best. I have a tub of it I got.of a friend who adopted it from his brother who had it in his tank for not sure how long but a few years at least. I'm still not convinced I like the look of it compared to the sand, but keep thinking I "supposed" to use it. That being said, no point in worrying if over time it becomes inert and therefore is more 'gravel' than anything else.
Option two is to bury it under the sand, but does that still alter water...and given that they're cichlids I imagine it will get dug up eventually anyways.

sorry for the long ramble. I startwd a thread about the tank in the general forum but realized I probably should have posted it here.

This is a pic of where it stands at the moment, just finished setting up the rocks yesterday


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## littleolme (Feb 21, 2012)

Been a while, how are things in Barrie?

The general concenus on the effect of crushed coral or argonite disolving into your tank water to buffer pH or hardness is negligable, especially considering the large, frequent water changes with cichlids. It's not really a matter of it becoming "inert", it's the actual substrate dissolving that lends the buffering to the water.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Newobsession (Nov 17, 2010)

littleolme said:


> Been a while, how are things in Barrie?
> 
> The general concenus on the effect of crushed coral or argonite disolving into your tank water to buffer pH or hardness is negligable, especially considering the large, frequent water changes with cichlids. It's not really a matter of it becoming "inert", it's the actual substrate dissolving that lends the buffering to the water.
> 
> ...


Hey Stranger! All is good.
Thanks for teh info


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