My Peat System Journal

[platytudes]

Apparently, I have to change the peat everytime I add new water to the buckets to be softened! (Nobody told me that!)

Yep, same thing as when you make tea or coffee. It gets "spent" - and the rate at which this happens is entirely different depending on your water chemistry. There is no formula that I know of, the closest thing I can think of is using something called a Pearson Square:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm

Peat is really quite unpredictable, it is why it has fallen out of favor vs. a reverse osmosis unit which gives you the same consistent results every time. In all of my pre 1980's aquarium books, the method you describe is mentioned for keeping "sensitive fish" such as discus (many of which nowadays, are acclimated to less extreme water chemistry)

I worry when you say things like "because my pH has to be around 7.3"...that you are missing the point of what I'm saying. Stability is more important than shooting for a precise target magical pH value.

I really think you should make an extract, so that you have a simple recipe to follow (boil X amount of peat in Y amount of water to make Z amount of extract) and use this in your water change water...much easier than the math equations you are posing

Google DIY blackwater extract for more info. You can also use leaves: http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/leaves-for-aquaria-full-article.htm

All of these measures = plenty of extra TLC for your fish...

 

[fishboy7]

I get what you are saying when you talk about stability. You said the stability is determined by alkalinity right? So, I will post what it is when I get the Gh and Kh test kits. What is extract?

 

[platytudes]

You're kind of wanting to make a homemade version of this:

It's like a concentrate, basically.

Have you Googled diy blackwater extract yet?

 

[Cerianthus]

Boil large amt of peat moss and save the extract. Probably similar to that of Blackwater Extract, if not the same..
You can even add all those dried/fallen leave that you raked over the weekend.

Perhaps even in higher [conc] than comm avail bottles depending on the quantity boiled and volume extracted. And much cheaper w/very little effort.

No need diy though imo as what youve been doing seems to work to suit your needs.

If you do, Save & Use the boiled peat moss (sinks better and dont affect the water as much) as substrate for breeding certain fishes such as killies, tetra, etc, etc.

 

[fishboy7]

Good idea, I will save the peat for that purpose. Also, the water will start at 7.3, but eventually the pH will be 8.2 because during water changes, I will add my faucet's water. This will give the fish time to adjust from the stores 7.4 neutral water to my 8.2 soft water. That's been the change in plans, so this is peat soaking thing is only temporary.

 

[Khemul]

Good idea, I will save the peat for that purpose. Also, the water will start at 7.3, but eventually the pH will be 8.2 because during water changes, I will add my faucet's water. This will give the fish time to adjust from the stores 7.4 neutral water to my 8.2 soft water. That's been the change in plans, so this is peat soaking thing is only temporary.

Wouldn't drip acclimation basically do the same thing and allow you to add fish whenever you wanted in the future?

I just recently used a drip setup (was 24 hours, but that was because of the drastic change) to acclimate some wild fish from a high-end brackish canal to a very low-end brackish aquarium so pretty sure a .6 PH shift to soft water would be pretty simple for that type of acclimation system.


I know you've put quite a bit of time and effort into this, but you may just be making things more difficult for yourself then they need to be by holding on to it.

 

[DGC]

I know you've put quite a bit of time and effort into this, but you may just be making things more difficult for yourself then they need to be by holding on to it.

I agree, and before anybody cuts me down I did read the whole thread. IMO this seems a waste of time fish will adapt. I have a community tank and would not be able to follow the perfect ph rule for all the fish.

I also in the beginning read everybody’s ideas of what the best water params should be and I played around with ro water, filtered water and tap water, messed with peat, drift wood and co2 and still lost all my neon’s, not sure why.

I now use a mix of filtered water and tap water to keep the GH down a bit, adding co2 drops the ph anyway. (I dont have the time to do all this working 12 hours a day 6 days a week)

IMO the more you mess with water, the worse the result.

On a lighter side you have very lucky fish if the owner takes so much time creating perfection.

 

[WeedCali]

Wish i would've read this earlier. i would've recommended the Tetra Laborett kit. its cheap than the API and comes with KH and GH tests.

 

[fishboy7]

Well, I just didn't want my fish to constantly die like they did last time, so this time I was ready to have to do more work. Thanks for the compliment!

 

[fishboy7]

Today, I decided @#%$ with the peat soaking thing! I decided I will do a drip acclimation for all of my fish. Also, I will post pics on the 36 Gallon Bowfront Thread below of the tank now that it's all up and running.