What's your opinion on filter peat?

[Tenko]

In an attempt to control an increasing tank ph, I bought 2 pieces of bogwood for the tank. Not only do they look quite nice in the tank, are important for the diet of my catfish, but I've heard they very slightly soften and acidify the water.

I've also heard that adding peat to your filter may have the same effect on water parameters, but is it worth it? I have no intention of getting any until I find out what effect it would have on my fish, but I have a fluval 204 and looked at what they offer anyway. £8.29 for a tiny box of peat or an incredible £14 for a tiny box of peat granuals.

Is this special fantastic aquarium super-peat? Why can I get a sack the size of my girlfriend for £3 from a garden centre, but pay 3 times that for a 1/2 full box I couldn't even fit my hand into? Is garden centre peat treated with stuff bad for fish?

 

[CFC]

Peat from the garden centre may be treated with chemicals that could harm your fish though you could use 100% organic additive free peat if you wished.

In my experience if your water is very hard then peat and bogwood will make little impact on it without the aid of a chemical to help break the buffers in the water, this is not recomended unless you know exactly what you are doing and are keeping fish that are sensative to the pH and hardness of the water.

 

[EddieW]

Tenko,

Wot CFC said!

Seriously though, messing with the pH or hardness unless you REALLY have to is not a good idea.

Peat is handy to 'take the edge' off slightly alkaline water and also to give the water a natural tinge which is appropriate for S. American bio-types.

If you can find 100% organic, additive free peat that is guaranteed to have come from a clean peat bog, then it would be safe to use in the aqaurium. But it is very unlikely you will be able to get that guaranteed as the peat might be OK to put on your garden but not in the aquarium.

I can get 1 litre of enriched peat granules for £4.06 by mail order.

HTH, Eddie

 

[Tenko]

I can get 1 litre of enriched peat granules for £4.06 by mail order.

Where's that from? Any saving would be welcome. Since I got my first tank I've already spent a lot more than I thought, but it's all worth it in the end if I get a healthy tank.

I know what you mean about messing with ph, I don't know enough about ph, kh, gh etc to want to mess with it. I will be keeping cardinals, some silvertips and possibly 2 angelfish. My limited understanding suggests that peat may be beneficial for them, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Before I consider it though I need to look into the other fish's requirements that I may get, such as dwarf gouramis. Also check up on the fish I do have, like guppies and bristlenose catfish.

 

[EddieW]

Hi Tenko,

You can get the peat here - I use this supplier regularly and they are very reliable. I tend to find they have good prices as well. On the page you can find Bioplast Hum-Aktiv Peat Granules at £4.06 per litre or Bioplast Moropur Filter Peat at £2.25 per litre. Note that shipping is £3.95 unless your order is over £30 when it is free.

Cardinals prefer soft water, but I have schools in hard water at pH around 7+ and they are all fine. One resource I use shows them as only being happy in pH from 4 to 6. I have read that they can be susceptible to kidney problems in hard water due to calcium build up.

Silvertips are happy in pH from 6.0 to 8.0 so should be fine.

Angels are happy in pH from 6.0 to 8.0 so these should be fine as well.

Dwarf gouramis (6-8 pH), guppies (7-8 pH) and bristlenose cats (5.8 - 7.8 pH) should all be fine in a tank about neutral (7 pH).

I would be more worried about the difference in pH between the tanks in the LFS and your tank than a slight difference between their natural habitat and your tank.

HTH, Eddie

 

[Tenko]

I would be more worried about the difference in pH between the tanks in the LFS and your tank than a slight difference between their natural habitat and your tank.

That's my main concern. Local tapwater is 7.8 but the water in my tank has increased to 8.3 in the past. It's now 8.2 which is still a big difference to the lfs (7.8). It means I have to be very careful when introducing new fish which I don't mind at all, but I would like to reduce any stress caused to the fish.

Thanks a lot for the link, that's in my favourites now. Thanks for the info on the fish too.

 

[Dubby]

That's my main concern. Local tapwater is 7.8 but the water in my tank has increased to 8.3 in the past. It's now 8.2 which is still a big difference to the lfs

Hi Tenko:

If your tapwater has a PH of 7.8, what is it that you have in the tank that is causing the PH to rise?

 

[Tenko]

Not too sure. My water was 7.8, 6 days later it was 8.2. I had a few small shells in which I've since removed so don't think they were the cause. I have stones from beaches which passed the vinegar test (not sure what else to look for). I have aquarium column decorations and rainbow rock which I don't think are the cause.

The tank is lightly stocked at the moment and has about 10 new plants in, I've read that a lack of CO2 can cause the ph to rise. I hope that's the cause, which will be removed once I've fully stocked the tank.

It's been suggested to leave some tap water in a bucket and test it after a few days to see if the ph changes, I'll try that later and also individually test my stones the same way to see if they cause a change.

 

[Dubby]

Tenko, what do you use for substrate?

 

[Tenko]

It's black gravel, I'll try to find out more info.