Water Question help

[pjrichar]

I have 55gal and have just redone the tank,,, getting ready for large shipment of apistos...
Put large pc driftwood,, use only RO water,,
but now i added small bag of super peat for the water...

Will my ph get too low with the peat... It has too many postives too not use it...

I didnt use much prob just enough for benefits to fish....

my flying fox and pandurini look fine

any suggestions and setup ?????
changing over to canister filter in two weeks
any suggestions on one not too expensive...???

 

[Tedstank]

I am not familiar with "super peat"..but if you do regular water changes it should not greatly affect your water parameters....as with tannins in drift wood.....they leach out into the water over time, and water changes will keep your tank fairly stable....super peat, im not sure....if you are doing a black water tank...oak leaves work excellent and last.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Have a look through the back threads, there are quite a few dealing with peat filtration and/or stability in low pH tanks. <http://www.forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?p=45720> etc. Aquarium peat is a rip-off, you want plain "sphagnum (moss) peat" without any additives etc.

I'd also have a good look at ApistoBobs recommendations for good habitat etc. He is a member of this forum and an experienced breeder of many Apisto's. <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_plants.php>.

I'm not a great fan of canister filters, I like sponge, and/or trickle filters filters, even for larger tanks, again have a look through the back posts, but you can get a lot more biological filtration, for a lot less money. If I was going to buy a canister filter I'd get the appropriately sized Ehiem.

cheers Darrel