Carib Sea ACS00120 Crushed Coral for Aquarium, 15-Pound

Although the product wasn't crushed coral it certainly raises the ph. For reference on how much to use, here is what I did. For starters I washed half of the 15lb bag in a bucket to remove the dust. Next I split it up into 3 parts and filled up 3 screen type filter bags with a zipper. No metal in the bags. Next I put one of the bags on top of a bubble stone on the bottom of the aquarium. The water flow gently raised the ph over a 24 hour period. The ph went from 6.0 to 6.2, I next put in all 3 bags and checked the ph after 8 hours. The ph went up to 6.4. so I withdrew all 3 bags and let the fish get used to it for a day. Now there's one bag in there and the ph is slowly coming up. It's at 6.6 after 24 hours so I'm leaving it like that for now. So it seems 2.5 pounds in a 60 gallon aquarium is about right. Therefore 1.25 pounds in a 30 gallon should be about right. Whatever you do, test the water often and put this stuff in mesh bags so you can easily remove it if the ph is coming up too fast. I assume the ph will not climb as fast as the water becomes more alkaline. However it's still a good idea to monitor it and remove the bags once you've reached your desired ph. I suppose eventually you can figure out how much to leave in the tank to maintain the proper ph. Hope this helps.

We have a 37 gallon aquarium consisting of community fish... mostly mollies. For the three years we'd had the aquarium the PH always read at the low end of the spectrum at 6.0. After some time, I read that the ideal PH for most community fish was around 7.0 while mollies prefered closer to 7.5. After reading up on the subject (how to raise PH), there were three natural fixes I came across: 1) More frequent water changes, 2) Feed them less, and 3) Coral/Seashells. After opening this 15lb bag, I realized that much of the crushed coral was smaller than what I prefered and smaller than my existing white substrate. So... I then went and bought a 4pc soil sieve set... this one: 4pc Soil Sieve Set (not for food), Stainless Steel 12" diameter and, using the .20in mesh, sifted the entire bag of crushed coral. When I was all done, my 15lb product was down to 4.7lb. I then added the remaining 4.7lb of crushed coral to my existing substrate and left it alone. Three weeks later (today) I checked my tanks PH levels for the first time... 7.5! I could not believe it! Lastly, as some others have mentioned, this bag is not 100% coral as it also contains numerous small seashells. I could care less... the product works and I like the look of seashells.

Bag I received is not what's pictured. Mine was not crushed coral was aragonite, but that said it is working to make my ph higher which is what I wanted the coral for anyways.

Great decor addition to my aquarium..

1 tablespoon was enough to raise 7.2 ph to 7.8 and raise kh from 0 to 3 in my 10 gallon tank. After the parameters were raised I moved the bag away from the front of the filter and tucked it more to the side of the filter. Still works. I wish it came in a smaller bag option. I now have enough coral for the life of my tank. Make sure to rinse well first. It is very dusty.

This crushed coral is great for balancing water hardness and therefore pH. I sprinkled a very thin layer onto my white gravel. The crushed coral is a little darker white (has a very light pink tint depending on the lighting) but does not make a noticeable difference. It increased buffer in my tank by adding calcium carbonate to the water, and the kH has been good ever since. pH has been a constant 6.5-7.0. I assume the more you add to your tank, the higher the kH and therefore pH, but for my purposes 6.5-7 is fine. I had been having problems keeping the pH up (it kept dropping constantly). Save yourself from alkalyne buffer power or pH Up that only works temporarily, and buy this product. Works and you don't need much. Just remember not to put in all at once, but a little over time, so you do not stress and potentially kill your fish. The product may leave a smoky looking water but this will go away.

Pretty much it is an item that you cannot find easily. So glad that amazon can help as much. Much appreciation though goes to the quick delivery time.

The good news is it is very pretty with all of the tiny seashells mixed in. I mixed in a bag with the sand already in my cichlid tank. The bad is that if I had to buy this again I probably wouldn't. I'd probably just go all sand. First off I'm not really sure how much of this is actual crushed coral. There are a ton of shells mixed in and what appears to be small gravel looking pieces. There were also small slivers of black material and some dark brown that appeared to be dried crushed leaves that kept floating up to the top while I was rinsing that I had to pick out as they floated along. Secondly, there is a ton, ton of sand mixed in with this so do not for one second believe the minimal rinsing required that they have printed right there on the front of the bag. That is a total lie. The best method that I found and what ended up working for me in the end to keep my water mostly clear while adding the coral was to dump the entire bag in a bucket and fill with water, swirl around and rinse several times. Then take a couple of handfuls of coral and place in a second container (I used a clear glass see through bowl) and start swirling like you're pan handling for gold. Let it settle after rinsing and dumping through that smaller container of coral a couple of times. Refill with water and let settle. Then reach in by hand and pull out as much of the coral as you can comfortably hold in one hand with your fingers spread apart (this lets the sand sift through). When you get to the tiny bit of coral left in the bottom of the glass bowl you will see all of the sand just go ahead and pull more coral out of the bucket and repeat the process. When you're done you'll end up with a small amount of coral in the bottom of the glass bowl and a bunch of sand. Toss it. Good luck, it took me forever.