probably a dumb question

I have a lot of coral that my husband collected from the ocean. I was told by a local petsmart that if I boil the coral it should be safe for a fw tank. I was wondering how much truth there was to that. If that won't work does anyone have any suggestions or if it is just not going to work, please let me know. Thanks.

[Birdlady]

Doesn't coral raise the PH of freshwater?? Anyone??

[fletch]

Heather, I think you should be fine with some coral in your FW tank if you boil it first as was suggested to you. I used to have a 50 gallon FW tank quite some time ago that had skeleton coral ( Dead Coral ) in it and my fish did just fine in fact I was breading Gold Vail Angelfish in it at the time and selling them to a LFS owner friend. The only thing is that Dead corals skeletons, even sterilized, will raise the PH of your water so you will have to Keep an eye on that so don't put a lot of it in your tank as that will cause a problem ( this link may help explain PH and how to test for it and ways to adjust it ) http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/waterchemistry.htm

I hope that this helped................... John

[fletch]

PS that was not a dumb Question at all In fact If you should be careful and not to put a lot of it in your tank as I said!! This WILL raise you PH so if this is something that you don't feel comfortable with then I would recommend not to use it in your tank........................ John

[szidls]

Heather,
John is right on with the ph issue. You can buy coral skeletons that have been coated with a sealer thus eliminating the higher ph.
Maybe you should think about FW African Cichlids. They love a ph of 8 to 9. Just another 2 cents.
Scott

thank you everyone for the info it is very helpful.

[fletch]

You Are very welcome Heather and feel free to join our forum as it free. And full of wonderful information and some very helpful people ........................ John