hatchlings in crushed coral
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Sorry guys, I’m a bad reseaercher. I can’t find anything on this. I’ve been searching through these messages, but it’s been tedious and produced no results thus far. I’ll soon be receiving an ornate hatchling and I’m wondering about using crushed coral for substrate. I was going to use those large, smooth stones (river stones?), but I know the aragonite will buffer the pH to about 8.3. Since turtles cause huge pH swings, I was hoping to use this so I could keep some plants. Then I read that certain diseases are more easily spread in more alkaline waters. I’ve read that some people keep their turtles in acidic waters to kill off the bad little bugs. I’m also very worried about the hatchling ingesting a large piece of crushed coral. So…. 1. Will the hatchling eat the crushed coral or chew it? 2. Can I keep many plants in 8.0-8.3 pH? 3. Will the crushed coral steady the pH enough to keep these plants alive in a 20g? 4. Will my baby be more suseptible to pathogens in higher alkalinity? Thanks for the help! Candace
Candace crushed coral is great for a baby ornate. They much on it but it won’t hurt them. I’ve not had much success with any plants, my turtles demolish them, but duckweed and water hycinith is pretty robust. But your plants should be fine as far as alkalinity, but when your little guy gets older he may get the best of them. Hatchlings do well in fresh or brackish. Lisa
Attachments :Can you use crushed coral in a freshwater setup?
Yes crushed coral works with fresh water. It just raises the pH to about 8.3. Most fresh water tanks for fish are kept at about 7.0 pH. Cichlids like higher pH so some people use crushed coral cause it maintains the pH at 8.0-8.3 all the time. People use crushed coral in salt water tanks because salt water organisms are used to having high pH. For some reason my reef tank likes to stay at 8.5 to 8.6 though. I have something between sand and crushed coral in there but it’s still aragonite so it buffers pH. In one word, yes. Crushed coral is safe for freshwater. I was just worried my hatchling would gobble down a whole kernel of crushed coral and become impacted. Hope that helps Aaron. 😉 Candace — In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “aaronrames Rames”
Attachments :Ok, so if it raises the PH so much, would it be harmful to my vampire pleco, two catfish, and numerous minnows? Thanks! Aaron
Yes, it can kill your fish. It depends on how high you go, but those are not mean’t to be salt water fish. Lisa
Absolutely, the crushed coral only brings it up a little, I would wait a few days and make sure it’s rinsed well before adding your fish though. Lisa
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