Deitta
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have read that adding peat to the tank will soften my very hard water, 150ppm. But how do you add it? What is it? I hear peat and I think of planting soil! :?
Peat questions
- Thread starter Deitta
- Start date
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nejsux
Aquarium Advice Activist
Are you concerned with your alkalinity or carbonate hardness? If you are purchasing fish from your local pet store, chances are they have similar water qualities to you, and the fish may be well accustomed to hard water. You may want to ask a KNOWLEDGEABLE (if you can find one) employee or manager at your pet store if they have any problems with hardness and what they do about it.
Peat actually contains tannic acid which seeps into your aquarium water. A lot of people use it (including me) as an anchor to grow plants that don't like coarse substrate. You can also add it to your filter media. People also use it for breeding. A lot of fish will spawn in it, and a lot of breeds prefer softer, more acidic, darker water to spawn in. Be warned, a small amount of peat will slighty, but noticeably darken your tank water to a yellowy-brown color, but it will stay clear, and look very natural. You can see this a bit in the picture of my tank I attched.
It does similar things to the water chemistry as using bogwood in your tank. Its a natural way to lower your pH and soften your water. FLUVAL (the filter company) also selld peat packaged and sterilized for aquarium use, to add to your filter media. Many people also use peat moss from a garden shop (much cheaper) but you's want to make sure it does not contain LIME (a lot of gardeningpeat does) and sterilize it (i'm not sure of the exact procedure, but i'm sure you can find it online) It's something like by boiling it first and then letting the impurities soak out into a bucket of water, changing the water every day for a few days.
I wouldn't recommend using peat that isn't intended for aquarium use, but most stores should carry it. I've also heard that its effects on altering water hardness wear off within a few days, so if you do use it, I'd moniter the water very carefully so you don't get big swings in your water parameters. I use the FLUVAL kind in my tank, but in very small quantities, and even though it's intended for aquariums, i still boil it for a long while first, which takes out most of the acid so its effects are VERY miniscule on my water quality. It's mostly just to give my plants somewhere to put heir roots, and they LOVE it. Try doing a google search for fluval peat. I just did dad and tons of online retailers popped up selling it for about 7 dollar a pound.
Peat actually contains tannic acid which seeps into your aquarium water. A lot of people use it (including me) as an anchor to grow plants that don't like coarse substrate. You can also add it to your filter media. People also use it for breeding. A lot of fish will spawn in it, and a lot of breeds prefer softer, more acidic, darker water to spawn in. Be warned, a small amount of peat will slighty, but noticeably darken your tank water to a yellowy-brown color, but it will stay clear, and look very natural. You can see this a bit in the picture of my tank I attched.
It does similar things to the water chemistry as using bogwood in your tank. Its a natural way to lower your pH and soften your water. FLUVAL (the filter company) also selld peat packaged and sterilized for aquarium use, to add to your filter media. Many people also use peat moss from a garden shop (much cheaper) but you's want to make sure it does not contain LIME (a lot of gardeningpeat does) and sterilize it (i'm not sure of the exact procedure, but i'm sure you can find it online) It's something like by boiling it first and then letting the impurities soak out into a bucket of water, changing the water every day for a few days.
(from fins forum)
I wouldn't recommend using peat that isn't intended for aquarium use, but most stores should carry it. I've also heard that its effects on altering water hardness wear off within a few days, so if you do use it, I'd moniter the water very carefully so you don't get big swings in your water parameters. I use the FLUVAL kind in my tank, but in very small quantities, and even though it's intended for aquariums, i still boil it for a long while first, which takes out most of the acid so its effects are VERY miniscule on my water quality. It's mostly just to give my plants somewhere to put heir roots, and they LOVE it. Try doing a google search for fluval peat. I just did dad and tons of online retailers popped up selling it for about 7 dollar a pound.
Orca
Aquarium Advice Regular
Fluval sells two types of peat - Fiber & Granular. I use the Granular type in my Eclipse System Six to try an lower the PH for my Neon Tetras. The Granular is concentrated and is supposed to be more potent than the Fiber type. I get it from my local PetSmart, and I just put into a filter media bag and drop it into the filter.
