# Which caribsea substrate to use a buffer



## jayren4 (Mar 24, 2008)

hi, 
im in the process of converting my 75 gal. community tank to african cichlids and i wanted to know which caribsea substrate to use as the buffer? my ph out of the tap is 7.5 and i have read on this forum that a lot of you use some sort of buffer either as the substrate or in the filter. i was out shopping today and the LFS had 3 types of caribsea substrates: aragonite, argamax and crushed coral. in your opions, which one should i use, they are all pretty much the same price so that's not an issue. im going to be putting it in the filter. thanks


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## stslimited84 (Oct 5, 2007)

I use crushed coral in my 75 gal. Seemed to work well, but im in the process of switching over to sand just b/c i want to see more of the natural behaviors of the fish.

:thumb:


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

> my ph out of the tap is 7.5


Another thing to consider is aerating your tap water for 24 hours.
My water out of the tap is 7.5 and after aerating it it rises to 8.2
Just a thought.
Alicem


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

I used the argomax in my tank . I liked the smaller grain size , more like sand. My fish move it around effortlessly, and does a descent enough job of buffering .


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## jayren4 (Mar 24, 2008)

thanks,
so is there a big difference in the 3 products or just personal preference? i plan on putting a bag full into my c-360 canister to help buffer the water, along with the rift lake recipe if needed. Again, im just starting the conversion to cichlids from my community set up and my ph is pretty stable at 6.8, which is where its been for the past 3 years. thanks again...


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## TONY5177 (Sep 9, 2007)

All replies above are using it as their substrate not in their filters ,it seems to me that you want to put it in a media tray inside a canister filter and buffer the PH that way instead of putting it inside the tank. Correct? I would imaging which ever one has lager pieces would be the choice. Anyone that has a finer grain may wash through to the next basket and prematurely clogg that layer of filtration. Some who has actually used it in that way before may know if one dissolves faster than the other.


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## jayren4 (Mar 24, 2008)

yes, i would be putting it in a bag/stocking and placing it in the filter. i wanted to know which would hold or buffer the ph better. im converting too pool filter sand next week, so is it better to combine the caribsea with the PFS and mix it into the substrate or have better control and just use it in the canister? thanks


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## fishyfishyfishy (Dec 24, 2005)

Sounds like with just a little buffer you'll be fine anyway based on the PH out of your tap.

The amount of buffering you'd get from a small amount of substrate placed in your canister most likely borders on insignificant.

I used the eco-complete as my substrate in my 450g but still used Seachem Malawi Buffer and Salt for the initial setup. Cheap enough...a full jar of each was only about $5/$6.


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