Oyster shell grit for rainwater?

[RichardM]

Please excuse my question, I'm not as experienced as most posters on here.

I'll be looking to put in ground level ponds, I wish to bypass using tap water & use clean, fresh rainwater. I wish to make the water hard, ph suitable for Axolotl. Would crushed oyster shell grit be all that's needed to up the mineral content etc?

Thanks

R

 

[Maf 2500]

It would work fine. You could also just put some limestone type rocks in the ponds instead.

 

[RichardM]

It would work fine. You could also just put some limestone type rocks in the ponds instead.

Thanks for replying, the GH & KH, would this work out ok from adding oyster / limestone to rainwater ?

 

[PARAGUAY]

Someone more knowledgeable can answer, but thinking just like remineralising a soft water aquarium ,won't alter too much

 

[Maf 2500]

Thanks for replying, the GH & KH, would this work out ok from adding oyster / limestone to rainwater ?

Both the grit and the rocks contain calcium carbonate, which would slowly dissolve in the soft rain water and raise GH and KH in tandem, until an equilibrium point is reached. I don't know a great deal about Axolotls but I believe they favour a medium to high pH and medium to hard water (medium to high KH/GH), both of which you would get by putting some limestone rocks in the ponds.

On a side note it seems axolotls allegedly sometimes die by eating gravel and small stones and it is often advised not to keep them with gravel. Not sure if oyster grit would have similar concerns, or even if it is a myth or a real area of concern.

 

[RichardM]

Both the grit and the rocks contain calcium carbonate, which would slowly dissolve in the soft rain water and raise GH and KH in tandem, until an equilibrium point is reached. I don't know a great deal about Axolotls but I believe they favour a medium to high pH and medium to hard water (medium to high KH/GH), both of which you would get by putting some limestone rocks in the ponds.

On a side note it seems axolotls allegedly sometimes die by eating gravel and small stones and it is often advised not to keep them with gravel. Not sure if oyster grit would have similar concerns, or even if it is a myth or a real area of concern.

Thanks for a detailed reply. 👍

As for gravel/oyster grit, Axolotl & other aquatic amphibians (Inc frog tadpoles) naturally swallow small stones as gastroliths.
Because people are trying so hard to make their tank as free as possible from small stones (lots of false info), their axolotls often get desperate to satisfy their instinctive desires for gastroliths and then swallow foreign objects and over sized stones.