can I use teabags to add tannins to the water?

[YoFishboy]

It can take a while....is the water colored at all? I would just add more peat...

 

[fishcatch22]

It can take a while....is the water colored at all? I would just add more peat...

nope. clear as a central antarctic summer morn.

the peat comes in pellets that swell up to about 4" long, I have 3 in my filter bag. I think I could cram one more in there.....

 

[YoFishboy]

nope. clear as a central antarctic summer morn.

the peat comes in pellets that swell up to about 4" long, I have 3 in my filter bag. I think I could cram one more in there.....

LOL...I say go for it! If it starts getting too dark, you can always do a water change.

 

[fishcatch22]

LOL...I say go for it! If it starts getting too dark, you can always do a water change.

true.... I crammed as much as I could physically fit.

 

[fishcatch22]

also, how often should I change the peat?

 

[YoFishboy]

change the peat when, after regular water changes, it can no longer "recharge" the water to the darkness you want within a few days.

 

[Toirtis]

That is odd....usually even a small amount of peat will colour the water within hours....what sort of peat pellets are you using?

 

[fishcatch22]

That is odd....usually even a small amount of peat will colour the water within hours....what sort of peat pellets are you using?

the type designed for potting plants in. it comes in small, flat pellets that swell up inside a mesh holding (which I remove), and you are supposed to plant seeds in that.

 

[YoFishboy]

Are those "pellets" pure peat? Look for the "bricks" of untreated peat at the nursery.

 

[ErrorS]

I have to ask the obvious..

you're not doing 50% water changes every 2 days or using carbon in your filters, are you?