# Crushed coral - how much for a gallon?



## danio5988 (Nov 13, 2008)

I need to raise my KH because my tap water has zero buffering capacity ( kh ).

How much of crushed coral do I need to raise my KH to an ideal stage so the PH will be stabilized?

My tank is 55 gallon, how many lbs do i need to put ideally.?


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## gabeszone247 (Jul 8, 2006)

I would start of with a 2 cup fulls. Do you have a canister filter? If so put the coral in a mesh bag and add it to your filter. Please you some kind of mesh or net type bag you you don't damage your filter. 


Putting the coral into your tank is fine, but if you want to take it out later its a pain. Also you can hang the bag by a cloths pin and ley the bag hang in the bag of your tank. Putting the coral in the filter will work best!!


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## danio5988 (Nov 13, 2008)

I have aqua clear power head, I took out the carbon and place the crushed coral on it.

that would work, right?

How much of KH will it raise for 55 gallon tank with 2 cups full?

My tap water KH is low to zero, but, high when it comes out fresh from the tap with high ph.


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## KevinC (May 24, 2004)

Crushed coral raises GH too and you don't have much control over it (it is slow to dissolve and will raise the KH and GH continually between water changes). A good alternative is baking soda - it raises KH without raising GH. You can add a specific amount with your water changes to keep it at a constant level.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

It isn't necessary to have a KH above some minimum value. It would be hard to find tap water with zero KH, if that is ever possible. Even one degree of KH is fine. In fact many plants will grow best with low KH, and fish do fine in low KH water.


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