peat moss for acidic water? need info please

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J

Jess.in.WI

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 2, 2006
55
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Abrams, WI
Hi, so I've kept freshwater fish for over 13 years but I never paid much attention to whether the water was acidic or hard or ???
I purchased the book the Encyclopedia of tropical freshwater fish and I'm researching the fish that I want to keep when my 38g is ready. For instance, Rams, Congo Tetras, Blue Tetras... they all prefer "slightly acidic" water and in a few bios it recommends the addition of peat moss to the filter.
I'm stumped, why peat moss, is it garden center peat moss, and what do I do? I have Whisper HOB filters that I can clean up and use, do I just stuff a bunch of moss in there instead of the filter media, or am I way off track?
For filtration, after trial and error through the years, I've settled on the very simple yet very efficient foam filtration. I am very happy with how easy the are to clean and how well they work, and I don't have to keep buying new media like the HOB's.
Thanks for any help and advice!
 
hey , first test your tap water, sometimes the ph is already acidic, the peat moss will bring it down but puting it in the wisper will only clog it up. From the list of fish you plan on keeping neutral ph should be fine. this is only from my experience though. good luck .
 
Canadian Sphagnum peat moss is good to use. The amount to use is dependant on your tap water alkalinity though, so there's no set guideline. Trial and error on your part, which is why I've never messed with it.
 
well I just tested my 72g and yipes, 8, very alkaline... does this mean that I cannot keep the fishes that I was hoping for? I don't want to have to tinker with the water every day, that's why I shut down my salt tank, it got to be too much work and hassle... I should check and see what water the fish in the 72g require, cuz they're all doing just fine in it.
 
If you have alkaline water, get African Cichlids or brackish!
 
peat work great to lower PH and soften water Ram and discus love the stuff the one thing i don't like is it can make the water look like tea but in there natural environment thats the way it is
 
I keep those fish and they even breed especially my german blue rams. My water is very alkaline with a ph of 7.6-7.8. I don't even mess with it. They can adapt to the water you have. Better that than u messing with it all the time and it possibly swinging crazy on you. Thats worse. Ask the petshop you are getting them from what their water is chances are they might be using the same water you are and they might be used to it already.
 
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