peat balls

[Jonathan Aquari]

has anyone used these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AQUARIUM-...7?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item4aad885e05

video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL4PJO05BpM

 

[tjudy]

I am sure they work. All they are is peat tied into a filter bag. You can make them yourself very cheaply using an old filter bag or a nylon stocking. The only problem I see with them is that the peat is compressed inside the bag, so water will not flow through them very easily.

 

[briztoon]

Ehiem have a peat product called EFHI torf. Alternatively Canadian Sphagnum moss does exactly the same thing and is much, much cheaper. If you after a black water effect, you can use a few different leaves to achieve this as well. Here in Australia we use Indian Almond leaves a lot, however in Europe and North America people use a lot of oak and/or beech leaves.

 

[tjudy]

Canadian Sphagnum moss does exactly the same

Please note that he means Canadian Sphagnum PEAT moss. You can also get sphagnum moss that is not peat, and is used for hanging plant baskets. I use the long-fiber sphagnum moss inteh fish room, but not to acidify the water.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Sera (big European brand) makes or at least made peat balls that were roughly pea size intended for pond use. They look to be small compressed balls of peat moss but they are not in a wrap or bag of any sort to maintain their shape other then a large mesh bag that holds several tthousand of them together. Great stuff for a black water aquarium! If you are not in need of a lot of it for mutliple aquariums I'd recommend it over more natural forms of peat moss as it's much easier to work with and fit into a filter bag and then place inside just about any filter with space. The stuff lasts a long long time as well.

I'll try to dig out the bag I have later and post the exact name Sera uses.