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im setting up a 55gal south american tank, i want to make it as natural as possible. is peat filtration a good idea and if so how can i do it. i cant find anything on the net on it. black water...
thanks

What kind of filter do you have, hang on back or cannister?

If hang on back, then buy some peat granules, put them in a media bag and put them in the filter.

If cannister... well, pretty much do the same. As long as the water routinely passes through the peat it will create the desired effect.

Note that you'll need to change the bag every now and then.

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Back in the saddle!

NowherMan6 has it right ... I just wanted to point out that you'll need to watch your pH closely if you do decide to use peat. The peat in the filter will add the tannins and tint the water a light tea color but it will also tend to reduce the pH ... if you don't have much buffering in the water (check kH) then you may want to use black water extract instead ... same visual effect but less of an effect on the pH. Or you could periodically add some buffering to ensure that the pH doesn't drop too low. My Amazon tank would drop to about 5.5 when I used peat ... of course the discus didn't mind!

Not to impose on yet another thread......but, will adding peat to the filter have any effect on the hardness (gH) of the water? My water is pretty well buffered (kH = 120ppm) with a pH of around 7.2, but the gH is 300 ppm. A tad on the high side for my taste and would like to see if I can move that number down without going the RO way yet. Will peat help with this at all? If not, I'm prepared to do RO.....if I have to. Thanks

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Adding peat will:
1. Not have an effect on GH,
2. May or may not impact pH,
3. Will color the water.

Peat will acidify water if KH is moderate. A moderately high level of KH, say 120 ppm or 6.7 dGH will buffer the water from a permanent reduction in pH. Using distilled water or reverse osmosis water or de-ionized water as a portion of the make-up water will enable the aquarist to reduce the KH.

As always, the question is, "Why do you want to adjust your water parameters?" The oft repeated answer is, "The fish need soft/acidic/pink/fizzy water according to the LFS/posts on this board/yomama/ouija board."

In general, the fish that you will purchase are one to ten generations removed from their natural habitat. If you modify your water parameters to match the nonsense (facts) that you have heard/read, you are ignoring two basic truths. The first is that you should attempt to duplicate the environment to that environment that the fish are accustomed to whether it be in a hobbyist's tank in Chicago or the LFS. The second truth is that you should acclimate your fish to the environment that you are able to provide with the least amount of alchemy.

Measure your tap water parameters after heating and aerating the water for at least 24 hours. These parameters are your base water parameters. The measurements should include ph, GH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites and total hardness in microsiemens.

Against these parameters, you should compare the same parameters from the LFS or hobbyist that you purchase/acquire your fish. The difference in parameters should give you an idea of the amount of time to acclimate your new purchase/acquisitions.

My personal position is that water parameters should only be modified to meet the breeding needs of the fish. By adopting that stance, you need to treat a much smaller volume of water for a very finite period of time.



Mmm, I feel much better now...

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Well, that is absolutely my intent. My rams are happy as larks in my hard water, but they have laid eggs twice and I nearly know that the high gH of the water will probably almost always affect the viability of the eggs. Also, my angels and apistos might have the same issue. I wouldn't worry about it all save for the fact that I would like to see at least one batch of ram eggs hatch.

Thank Bob!

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."