soft water treatment

[cubsfan]

I know that a standard method for softening water for apistos is to use peat moss in the filter. Due to environmental concerns, I was wondering if an alternative would be to use something like fallen oak leaves. Would this have a similar effect? I know people use these decoratively in their tanks, so I know they shouldn't be harmful to the fish. Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[Mike Wise]

Do not use peat moss. Use sphagnum peat! Oak leaves work in the same way but you will need a whole lot more to acheive the same results. Sphagnum peat is so inexpensive that I see no reason to use oak leaves for this purpose. Use the leave for decoration/breeding sites instead. I don't understand the "environmental concerns" that you have.

 

[aspen]

there are some sources for sphagnum peat moss that are not considered environmentally sound, like i believe the irish moss bogs, due to their relative small size. if you get canadian sphagnum peat, there is SO MUCH of it, there would never be a way to exhaust it.


if you were to take a plane ride across the northern half of canada, you would literally fly for hours over this great expanse of peat bogs. don't worry about using it up, there won't be any shortage of it.

rick