AquaRank.com

FishProfiles.com Message Forums

faq | etiquette | register | my account | search | mailbox
# FishProfiles.com Message Forums
L# Freshwater Species
 L# Tetra Talk
  L# Blackwater?
 Post Reply  New Topic
SubscribeBlackwater?
fandan
******
----------
Hobbyist
Posts: 130
Kudos: 43
Registered: 24-Mar-2007
male australia
hey there!

does anybody use peat in their filter? i want too to recreate more amazon type water for my tetra, as well as providing nutrients for the plants (and i quite like the idea of having slightly yellow water). however my tap water is already quite low ph and im not sure how much of an effect the darkened water would have on my lighting for my plants.

so any ideas and advice would be very much appreciated!
Post InfoPosted 18-Jul-2007 08:22Profile PM Edit Report 
ScottF
********
---------------
Fish Addict
Addiction Hurts!!
Posts: 542
Kudos: 330
Votes: 355
Registered: 28-May-2007
male usa
Well, if you use driftwood or bogwood in the tank, and don't soak it prior to putting it in the tank, it should release tannins that will darken the water. I don't know of the effect on the plants/lighting balance. But, I don know that you'd have to weight the wood down with a rock or something in order to keep it at the bottom of the tank.

I am fairly new to all this, so hopefully someone with a bit more experience will come round and offer a suggestion!
Post InfoPosted 19-Jul-2007 13:31Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sham
*********
----------
Ultimate Fish Guru
Posts: 3369
Kudos: 2782
Votes: 98
Registered: 21-Apr-2004
female usa
If your ph is already low you may end up with way too low of ph after adding peat or driftwood. Do you know the kh? You need a good kh test if you start messing with the ph. Buffer the kh to 5 degrees or above with baking soda and then add a small amount of peat to your filter. Wait a few days before you judge how much it's tinted your water. If it's too light add more if it's too dark use less. Since your just going for a little tint to the water it shouldn't take much peat or be too hard to keep the ph up.

If the ph drops too low then add a little more baking soda to buffer it better. Add the baking soda to reach the kh you want on a new bucket of water for water changes and not directly to the tank. Do water changes with the new harder water to increase kh or ph instead of directly changing the tank. Fish will get stressed and possibly die if you change the parameters too quickly which is why you do it through water changes. It gives them time to adapt. Also remove any chemical filtration. Carbon and other chemical filtration will remove some of the color and require you to use more peat which will drop the ph farther and require more baking soda. The tank has more risk of becoming unstable the more peat or baking soda you have to add.
Post InfoPosted 19-Jul-2007 18:04Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Post Reply  New Topic
Jump to: 

The views expressed on this page are the implied opinions of their respective authors.
Under no circumstances do the comments on this page represent the opinions of the staff of FishProfiles.com.

FishProfiles.com Forums, version 11.0
Mazeguy Smilies