# Crushed coral in Eheim 2213 or in the substrate?



## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

Hi all,

Since I forgot to add crushed coral to the soil BEFORE putting in the sand and water, I'm trying to find the best way to add crushed coral to the tank.

I'm deciding whether I should put the CC in a filter bag and into the Eheim 2213, or if I should sprinkler it throughout the tank and manually push the CC under the sand.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!


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## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

Any thoughts?

Incidentally, I did read a forum post that suggested putting a filter bag into a canister filter is not advisable, as it can trap a ton of debris and cause the filter to eventually burn out. Furthermore, since the water running through the filter is oxygenated, the crushed coral won't break down and therefore will not aid in hardening the water. That said, this was a forum post from 2002 and it was never responded to.


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## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

double post


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## potatoes (Jun 25, 2010)

Is there a specific reason for the coral? If you want to add it, i would push it under the soil. I have heard of people pushing clay balls under the soil. Maybe you could mix the coral with the clay and shove it under there because shoving individual crushed pieces will be difficult. I think if you sprinkle it everywhere you will just make the water harder. Is that your goal?


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

put crushed coral in an ice cube tray, fill tray with water, freeze it, push the cubes under your substrate.
there is no problem at all using crushed coral as a medium in a bag in your canister filter - that's what it's for.
any anecdotes of someone burning out their filter was the exception, not caused by the use of filter bags.
reminds me of the joke: i tell my doctor it hurts when i do this, so the doctor says; then just don't do that.


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## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

@potatoes: I actually need to harden the water, I discovered that the soil I used has peat so it's softening my water quite a bit.

@spypet: That's ingenious, I'll have to try that.

Thanks both of you!


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Add the coral to the filter. It will not trap much debris, it is a very inefficient filter media. 
If the amount you use creates the changes you like, then you can either add some to the substrate or just keep it in the filter. 
If the amount you use creates too high a mineral level, then you can easily adjust the amount. This is impossible to do after the material is part of the substrate. 

Remember to add minerals to the new water when you do water changes so the new water matches the tank water.


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## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

Thanks Diana!

I think the concern from that person was the filter bag capturing too much debris, causing the flow to decrease and the impeller to burn out. But now that I think about it, the Eheim 2213 has at least two filter pads that are denser than the filter bag, so there's really no reason to worry about the filter getting too clogged.


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