Peat moss

why do you want to soften your water?? yes peat will work ive seen people use peat moss in bags.... i prefer the ketapeat nuggets myself or keta leaves....

also i have kept multiple aros in hard water with no problems.... i find it best to just aclimate a fish to your tap water and not mess with the ph and chemistry....

FYI if your water's gH is to a certain degree peat and such will not help at all and just add tanic and humic acids to the waters - which will help most fish feel at ease, but will not affect the pH.

It's been a really long time since I've gone over all the actual numbers on this, so you'll want to do your own research - but in general the only time peat is going to greatly affect your pH is if you've already got a low pH to begin with, since pH and gH generally go hand in hand.

Oh, in respects to where to get peat.

I like the jiffy peat pellets, get a fine micro mesh filter bag and head to Home Depot, peat pellets are sold in compact discs that expand when added to water - fill up a bag with them and soak it in water to expand them.

The peat used in them is a nice dark type, similar to peat nuggets - vs. the moss which I don't think works quite as well.