Crushed Coral To Increase PH

[Sharkbait]

So I recently moved to Sooke, BC, a smaller town outside of Victoria. I've noticed that the PH of the water in Sooke is quite lower than Victoria:

In Victoria I had a PH swing of 6.6-6.8. Perfect. After moving, my PH has dropped below to 5.4-5.6. This has greatly affected my planted tank because my C02 will not go on unless the PH goes above 6.8.

I have a Fluval FX5 filter and just added an Aquaclear 110 mesh bag full of crushed coral substrate. Should this be enough to bring my PH back to normal? I'd rather go the crushed coral route because I don't want to be wasting money on chemicals every water change just to raise my PH. In addition, I'd rather do things more naturally, and crushed coral from what I understand is the way to go.

How will the crushed coral affect my KH? And how often should I change the coral?

Thanks!

[brewmaster15]

The Crushed coral should work fine. It'll be trial and error as to how much to use to get what you want for levels... It will raise your KH and pH...but it does not need to be replaced frequently. I use it in many of grow out tanks... Just rinse it out every so often... If it gets coated with Junk...it won't be able to react with the acids in the water column as well. If you notice some drops in pH..replace it .

hth,
al