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I heard you can put peat moss as a bottom layer of subrates for plants, but what are the benifits? I am planning my substrate to be like this:

top layer:Flourite
Middle layer: Pea size Gravel
Bottom: Peat moss

Any advice?

Last edited by trojan_man at 16-Apr-2005 03:09

Peat moss is used for when you need to lower the Ph.

Small ammounts are sold as filter inserts which is generally enough to lower the ph of most tanks. Using it in the substrate is likley to be more of a hassle than it's worth.

On your layering I'd have the florite where the plant roots can actually make use of it . Best would be to go with all florite.

^_^

[hr width='40%']"Put your soul in the water,
And join me for a swim tonight"

Last edited by Babelfish at 16-Apr-2005 03:28

Here's the deal on adding it with flourite:

Add about 1 handful per sq/ft of ground peat moss(eg Scott's brand etc).

You can pre soak it a little and wet it.
Mix with about 1/2" of flourite.

Cap with 2-3" of flourite.

I'd suggest adding only a smaller amount.

Something most relevant and important is adding some detrital material(the vacuumed "dirt" or "mulm"from an existing tank. Any FW tank will do, deep vacuum the gravel, let the water settle for 5 minutes in the bucket, then decant off the clear water and save that "mulm".
Take this and add to the new gravel along with the peat in this bottom 1/2" layer.

This adds precsiely what is missing from a new substrate.
The small amounts of pear and mulm will have little effect on the water column, it's mainly to cycle the substrate in the first month and this way you have no new tank issues.

The tank starts off super without missing a beat.
Something less messy than peat and last longer is leonardite, they sell it in Hydroponics store. Diamond Black is the brand I typically use. You can use this in place of peat.

This is the best way to start up a planted substrate and these items should be added no matter what type of gravel you are using.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Peat has also traditionally been used as a substrate for aquaria housing bottom spawning Killifishes, especially the annual Killies such as Cynolebias and Nothobranchius. Using peat as the substrate seems to assist in egg development in several of these fishes, although with some annual species, the incubation period (sealed in a partially dried out state in a plastic bag in a warm, dark place) can be as long as 7 months!

Peat is also used for those Killies that bottom spawn, but do not have annual life cycles (i.e., no partial dessication of the substrate to incubate the eggs).

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002