using Peat media in filter tray?

M

Mooch28

AC Members
Dec 24, 2004
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Toronto (Brampton)
Hi again guys,

First off, im gona give you guys my tank specs.......

Tank is a planted (Medium) 72 gallon. Ph is currently around 7.2. Temperature is kept around 79. Tank is stocked with community fish such as.....

Diamond tetras
Platies
Rasboras
Plekos
Clown loaches
Tiger barbs
Rams
Gouramis

The filter i have is a fluval 404 which has three trays. One has the white ring biological stuff that you change once per year. The other two have carbon in them. My question is, what benefits or disadvantages would i get from adding peat in one of the trays along with the Carbon and bilogical filter media?

Some other concerns i have are........

1. Will PH fall too quickly and cause fish death. If so, how much will it drop from the current 7.2?

2. How often does the peat have to be replaced before it becomes ineffective or stop giving the water that black look?

3. When adding the peat along with Carbon, will the carbon filter out all the peat extract and therefore kill the "black water" effect?


Also, does anone have any pictured of a black water tank being filtered with peat?

Thanks guys, i really appreciate the help. And sorry for so many question, im still relatively new at this......
 
First off I'll throw this out I have had fluvals since starting my tank (first a 204 now have a 304 on it) The ceramic rings never need changing unless they are clogged up..........These hold most of your bacteria load and you don't want to change this out..............My tank has been up for well over a year now and still has the original. Rinse them monthly with tank water and you will be good to go.

Now for your questions (I will do the best I can with the knowledge I have)

1> Peat lowers Ph very gradually and also generally softens the water. If your Ph is a stable 7.2 you won't want to bother fooling with it. Your fish will be quite happy in that area and getting it much lower could stress them.
2> The peat would have to be replaced almost weekly....It actually give the water a tea colour not black.
3> The carbon will try to remove the tannens and there for there is almost a fight between the 2 media.

In a 404 here is what I would run (same as my 304)
Bottom tray-----Fill it with floss and a some carbon (If you want)
Mid tray---------Bio rings
Top tray--------Amrid and I also have a nitra zorb pouch to help with my nitrates.

Now if you are looking to colour the water the risks of the fluctuating Ph and other concers for fish stress far outweigh the idea of a nice coloured tank.
 
Peat Filtration

Some years back, I tried peat piltration in a 55g housing a pike cichlid and a synodontis. I too was using a Fluval. I do not recall which Fluval, but it was the second largest one that they had at the time. I also asked the same questions as you did. At that time, I was living in an area that had ideal water conditions: very soft. The ph was neutral. However, like you, I wanted to create that stained look. And to slightly lower the ph for the pike.

Anyway, I took the matrix carbon out of the filter and replaced it with Fluval peat fibers. It worked. The water was stained very quickly. The ph dropped did drop gradually. After a couple of weeks, I got tired of it, didn't want to buy more peat (not cheap!). So, I never replaced it and simply went back to carbon.

By the way, the orange pike did look better in stained water. I had very few plants. A big clump of java moss and some anubias.

Depending on your local water supply, it may drop gradually or it may not drop at all. Also how much you use will matter. It's really hard to say. But, I would remove the carbon were I you. Why waste good carbon that way? You local ph is fine for the fishes you are keeping, in my humble opinion.
 
I've heard of people throwing used tea bags in their filter to get that tea color look without having any effect on water pH/hardness. The carbon will try to remove the tannins, so remove it first.

Do you have live plants? Injecting CO2 will decrease the pH somewhat.
 
Biotoper said:
I've heard of people throwing used tea bags in their filter to get that tea color look without having any effect on water pH/hardness. The carbon will try to remove the tannins, so remove it first.

Do you have live plants? Injecting CO2 will decrease the pH somewhat.
Click to expand...


Yes i do, but i cant afford proper C02 injection. I just use a liquid C02...flourish excell. Ph isnt my problem really, i just want that tea colour look...

Are you serious about the tea bags though? I acutally thought about this, but didnt bring it up because i thought it may sound a bit crazy. Has anyone else actually tried this?

Or does anyone have links too sites that reccomend this safely?
 
I don't know if this would help...but I got some driftwood from Drs Foster and Smith (I think african) - and it turned the water tea colored forever. I boiled it, soaked it, sunned it - everything but it ALWAYS turned the water w/ the tannins. Never hurt the water chemistry though. I finally gave up and took it out after 6 months b/c I like clear water. ;) Maybe some driftwood would accomplish the look?
 
Mooch28 said:
Yes i do, but i cant afford proper C02 injection. I just use a liquid C02...flourish excell. Ph isnt my problem really, i just want that tea colour look...

Are you serious about the tea bags though? I acutally thought about this, but didnt bring it up because i thought it may sound a bit crazy. Has anyone else actually tried this?

Or does anyone have links too sites that reccomend this safely?
Click to expand...
Hi Mooch,
You can purchase 'Black Water Extract' if you really want to recreate the effect of Amazon black water, peat will also do a great job. I use a layer of peat beneath the gravel in my 10g planted, and the water is quite tea coloured. As for teabags, I wouldn't try that personally.
You don't need to invest a lot of money to get the benefits of CO2 - have you thought about DIY? It's very easy, costs nearly nothing, and works well. AFAIK it's more beneficial to plants than bottled carbon, and it's certainly less expensive :)
There's a lot of information about DIY CO2 (just Google it, you'll see what I mean), but here's an extremely simple way to do it (forgive me if you know this already):
- Get a 2L soda bottle, drill a hole in the lid with a slightly smaller diameter than a piece of airline.
- Cut one end of a piece of airline (long enough to go from the floor up into the tank) on a diagonal, and pull it through the cap, leaving the diagonal end inside the cap.
- Silicone the inside and outside of the cap to permanently seal the airline in place and prevent leaks.
- Install a checkvalve somewhere along the airline, and an airstone at the end (or you can feed the end directly into the intake tube of a filter).
- Take the empty soda bottle, clean it (no soap), fill it ~3/4 with warm (not hot) dechlorinated water. Add 2 cups of sugar, 1/4tsp of regular bread yeast, and shake.
- Leave the bottle out on the counter overnight. In the morning, you should see lots of bubbles rising. If the silicone is cured, attach the cap, run the airline into the tank, and voila! CO2 enters your tank through the airline.

The mix lasts about two weeks before you need to replace it. I recommend cleaning the airstone each time you change the mix; it can get clogged and cause back pressure. Watch your pH and KH, and add more bottles (install a multi-line valve) if needed. I use 7 2L bottles for my 65g, which keeps my CO2 at 25ppm, and the plants grow at a phenominal rate.
 
I found a discussion about using tea bags here http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1528.html. I personally would stay away from black water products - why find one more way to spend money?

You could also try adding some leaves to your tank, like oak - boil them first to waterlog them and kill off any hitchhikers. They'll leach out tannins, darkening your water.
 
Blinky said:
Hi Mooch,
You can purchase 'Black Water Extract' if you really want to recreate the effect of Amazon black water, peat will also do a great job. I use a layer of peat beneath the gravel in my 10g planted, and the water is quite tea coloured. As for teabags, I wouldn't try that personally.
You don't need to invest a lot of money to get the benefits of CO2 - have you thought about DIY? It's very easy, costs nearly nothing, and works well. AFAIK it's more beneficial to plants than bottled carbon, and it's certainly less expensive :)
There's a lot of information about DIY CO2 (just Google it, you'll see what I mean), but here's an extremely simple way to do it (forgive me if you know this already):
- Get a 2L soda bottle, drill a hole in the lid with a slightly smaller diameter than a piece of airline.
- Cut one end of a piece of airline (long enough to go from the floor up into the tank) on a diagonal, and pull it through the cap, leaving the diagonal end inside the cap.
- Silicone the inside and outside of the cap to permanently seal the airline in place and prevent leaks.
- Install a checkvalve somewhere along the airline, and an airstone at the end (or you can feed the end directly into the intake tube of a filter).
- Take the empty soda bottle, clean it (no soap), fill it ~3/4 with warm (not hot) dechlorinated water. Add 2 cups of sugar, 1/4tsp of regular bread yeast, and shake.
- Leave the bottle out on the counter overnight. In the morning, you should see lots of bubbles rising. If the silicone is cured, attach the cap, run the airline into the tank, and voila! CO2 enters your tank through the airline.

The mix lasts about two weeks before you need to replace it. I recommend cleaning the airstone each time you change the mix; it can get clogged and cause back pressure. Watch your pH and KH, and add more bottles (install a multi-line valve) if needed. I use 7 2L bottles for my 65g, which keeps my CO2 at 25ppm, and the plants grow at a phenominal rate.
Click to expand...

Does "Black Water Extract" effect the chemistry of the water at all? And, does it need to be added every water change or on a regular basis?

And yes, i have thought about and heard about DIY C02, and have infact thought about doing this.......in time though. First things first.......black water! :D

Thanks Blinky.
 
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