Lowering ph with peat moss

[Lucasalc46]

Hello! I have a 29 gallon with Pencilfish and checkerboard cichlids and I was wondering if peat moss in filter will help lower my ph. Does peat moss put a dark stain in water if it’s in a filter bag and does it clean the tank well?

Thanks

 

[Lucasalc46]

I have and aqua clear 30 with all the basic stuff except the peat moss which I use as chemical filtration. Will this keep my tank clean with a schools of 10 tetras and 10 Pencilfish fish and some checkerboards? I may add other fish too

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Hello! I have a 29 gallon with Pencilfish and checkerboard cichlids and I was wondering if peat moss in filter will help lower my ph. Does peat moss put a dark stain in water if it’s in a filter bag and does it clean the tank well?
Thanks

It will, but there are certain caveats.

Have a look at <"this thread and links">, it would also be worth reading <"All the leaves are brown"> and <"Tannin Aquatics blog">.

cheers Darrel

 

[gerald]

Peat will lower pH and hardness noticeably if your water is already soft (less than 50 mg/liter GH and KH). In harder water you probably wont see much change in pH or GH, since the peat gets saturated quickly with + ions. Either way, the brown organic compounds will leach from the peat (tannin, lignin, fulvic acid) and are beneficial to the fish.

 

[Lucasalc46]

Peat will lower pH and hardness noticeably if your water is already soft (less than 50 mg/liter GH and KH). In harder water you probably wont see much change in pH or GH, since the peat gets saturated quickly with + ions. Either way, the brown organic compounds will leach from the peat (tannin, lignin, fulvic acid) and are beneficial to the fish.

How dark does it make the water and does it clean well?

 

[gerald]

I cant really answer your "how dark" question. That depends on the particular batch of peat, how much you use, how long you leave it in the tank, how much water you change, water hardness, and other factors. You'll need to experiment with it. Not sure what your other question "does it clean well" means. Clean what, exactly? Peat does absorb small amounts of calcium and magnesium (hardness ions) and provides additional surface for nitrifying microbes to grow on, so yes it may help with ammonium oxidation.

 

[Drayden Farci]

Hi all, It will, but there are certain caveats.

Have a look at <"this thread and links">, it would also be worth reading <"All the leaves are brown"> and <"Tannin Aquatics blog">.

cheers Darrel

Hey Darrel,

The first link you posted got screwed up. I'd like to take a look at it too to see if peat is something I want to dabble in.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Hey Darrel,
The first link you posted got screwed up. I'd like to take a look at it too to see if peat is something I want to dabble in.

Apologies <"probably this one">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Lucasalc46]

Hi all,Apologies <"probably this one">.

cheers Darrel

I’m not sure if I understood that whole post but can I just put peat in a filter bag in my five gallon RO water tank to lower the ph before the water change?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I’m not sure if I understood that whole post but can I just put peat in a filter bag in my five gallon RO water tank to lower the ph before the water change?

Yes you can. Because you don't have water flow through the filter sock it might take a while for the softening to occur. I would try and see what the water looks like (how tinted it looks) after 24 hours.

Some form of water circulation (an air stone?) would speed things up.

I used to use about five litres of peat in a cotton pillow case, placed inside the water butt. When the water became less tinted I used to change the peat for some new.

cheers Darrel

 

[Lucasalc46]

Ok thanks

 

[ButtNekkid]

Hi,

I have a 40L/10G dedicated peat bucket just for water changes.
It has a long air stone and it circulates the water through three filter socks full of peat during days. There´s also miscellaneous leafs for a bonus.
The bucket also has heater that works only daytime.

My tap has a conductivity of about 120 µS. In bucket it drops to a 70 µS.
If I use snow I have about 20-30 µS.

 

[Lucasalc46]

Hi,

I have a 40L/10G dedicated peat bucket just for water changes.
It has a long air stone and it circulates the water through three filter socks full of peat during days. There´s also miscellaneous leafs for a bonus.
The bucket also has heater that works only daytime.

My tap has a conductivity of about 120 µS. In bucket it drops to a 70 µS.
If I use snow I have about 20-30 µS.

Ok thanks, how much time should I leave it in the bucket and will sera peat work fine?

 

[ButtNekkid]

Hi,

Darrel might have an answer to that. I have never tested how long does it take. I´d imagine it depends largely on your water parameters.
But my weekly water parameters are quite consistent when I check before water change.
I suspect that it doesn´t take long if you have some form of circulation.
Still water in my peat bucket did not have much effect.

You should consider investing in conductivity meter and maybe on some KH/GH tests. I personally don´t know how accurate these tests are but a conductivity meter has been a game changer for me, you just have to be aware of it´s limitations.

Isn´t Sera peat just peat in condensed form? And quite expensive! I once tested it and it really stained my water.
Don´t know much it will affect water parameters though. Should it have much less CEC than peat that is not compressed? Darrel?

 

[Bart Hazes]

Like ButtNekkid I have a dedicate peat barrel that I fill with RO water in addition to a plain RO water bin. In the beginning I contained the peat in a wide-diameter tube with the idea to circulated water through it. Then I decided to just dump the loose peat into the bin and stir a few times. Water pH drops down nearly instantly. With my fresh peat to just below pH 5 and then over time the pH stabilizes at slowly increasing pH. When it gets to ~5.5 I replace the peat. To collect the water I siphon it off through a wide-bore tubing with a filter-inlet-protection sponge over the end of the tube. Works like a charm.

 

[Lucasalc46]

Ok

Like ButtNekkid I have a dedicate peat barrel that I fill with RO water in addition to a plain RO water bin. In the beginning I contained the peat in a wide-diameter tube with the idea to circulated water through it. Then I decided to just dump the loose peat into the bin and stir a few times. Water pH drops down nearly instantly. With my fresh peat to just below pH 5 and then over time the pH stabilizes at slowly increasing pH. When it gets to ~5.5 I replace the peat. To collect the water I siphon it off through a wide-bore tubing with a filter-inlet-protection sponge over the end of the tube. Works like a charm.

ok.
If I’m adding my RO water with a current ph of 6.6-6.4 and dropping to my 29 gallontank of ph of 7.4 with a kh of like 75 ppms will this make a harmful drop of ph for my fish or because I’m only adding 5 gallons of this water it won’t effect the current ph by too much?

 

[Bart Hazes]

Start with a small volume, like th 5 gallon you suggest. I think you will be disappointed how slowly the tank pH comes down. I've been doing this on a 30 gallon breeder with about half the ppm or less than what you have.

 

[Lucasalc46]

Ok thanks.