Peat testing

[henward]

put a bag of peat today in my smaller tank - water browning, peat is still floatingso i had to put a rock in the bag to sink it.

using yates peat moss.

i called them they said its pure peat no additives.

see how i go, hope its ok!

i like the brown look

[Fruju]

i like the brown look

lol

[henward]

with my tanks i mean:P

[Luke*]

yeah i run some in a stocking with my fish. i love the more natural tinged look you get. the fish love it and it softens the water too

[henward]

do you put it in the canister?

i dont wanna waste space in my canister with peat.

i dont see how the peat will get enough movement in it to dissipate the tannins

[Black Sabbath]

Is there anything that can go wrong using Peat?

[henward]

waterbrowning

but not very dark

problem sit aht cos the peat is a bit dry, it floats.

its in a stocking back and it seems that water is not absorbing into it.

i dont wanna waste canister filter space for this, any ideas how to get the brown stuff to leech quicker so its dark?

[snookie]

is this for your black aro etc..?

[alanmin4304]

Boil it, let it cool, tip water and bag into tank--it should now sink (the bag that is)

[Zev]

You forgot to say, scoop off the stuff that floats, then bag it, Alan

[Luke*]

i just put it all dry in a stocking, tie it up, then put it in the tank. it has sunk and works away nicely giving a light tannin colour. it's not 'really' dark though. yea you can just boil how much you want to get the desired effect otherwise.

[henward]

boiling it wont destroy the good stuff in it.

i know teh acids and tannins in the peat has some goodies in it right?

well indian almost leaf does anyways.

so really, pre soak it somewhere and then put the juice in the tank?

i was considering putting multiple bags in the tank - but less in each bag so water diffuses through quicker.

i want a darker colour, not just a light brown - its for the aro tanks wtih clowns in nit.

so boiling the peat wont turn the chems into something bad?

[Zev]

Keep the boiled water and add it to your tank.

Killiefish keepers boil peat that they use for peat spawners to lay eggs in and then keep it for months before re-wetting and hatching fry.

Oak leaves left to soak in a bucket will give you a good tint to the water as well, but with your water change regime you may have an uphill battle to keep the water the colour you want it.

[henward]

yeah, may reduce water change and lighten feeding for a few weeks while its brown. i foudn when i put IAL in the tank, and it gets dark - fish acti differently. like with discus, they seemed mroe active and le3ss why.

re wet? you mean the peat it self or once you boil, you cant re use can you?

so, i boil the peat, get all the stuff out of it.

Then sift it so i get the solid chunks out. water acts as a additive like taht black water extract really.

then add to the tank as i need? then no need to put the peat itself in the system right?

oak, dry the oak leaev first? or just wet into the wateR?

Also - oak, there is only one type of oak right? no different types?

never used oak leaves before.

[Zev]

When killi keepers re-wet peat, it means that there are killie eggs in there and they do so to make them hatch.

You boil the peat mainly to make it sink, skim off the floating bits, drain off the water and keep it to add to your tank, and put the remaining peat into a bag and either put it in your filter or hide it in the tank somewhere.

There are many types of Oak, the difference mainly being in the leaf shape. These must have aged naturally and fallen off the tree dry before you add them to your tank, either loose (they sink after a couple of days) or in a bag. As i mentioned before, you could also put them into a large container of water and use if for waterchanges as well, just keep topping it up as you use the water.

[henward]

oh ok

but boiling it would remove so much tannins!

ahh, ok, i guess same works with pre soaking the peat in just normal water - then baggint the sunken peat.

[Stella]

but you can put the water it was boiled in into the tank...

I microwave my peat - turn it into a wet mud, then microwave in a glass dish (won't stain). I gave 5L of very thick peat mud 10 minutes in the microwave and it pretty much all sunk.

However, for making the water very dark, as stocking-full is unlikely to have much impact. Fresh peat as a thick substrate will result in a rich yellow/brown between waterchanges.