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Maura
Moderators
Joined: 12 Jan 2005
Location: Tampa, FL
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 Posted: 2005.02.02(Wed)7:41 Post subject: |
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I'm in the same boat as benedictj. I have a 40 gallon breeder tank with quite a bit of peat under Eco Complete substrate, and I plan to inject CO2 conservatively. I have 2.4 wpg and will be dosing nutrients as well. Unfortunately, this thread started just after I set up the tank.
So, if I can't accurately measure my CO2 levels because the peat will interfere, are there any early warning signs to watch for in order to keep my fish safe and comfortable? What do fish DO when CO2 approaches stressful levels?
So far the tank is stocked with:
Black molly
9 Cherry Barbs.
As the tank stabilizes I will add:
several oto's
freshwater shrimp - not sure which yet but they need to be big in order to not get eaten by the:
killifish
Blue Rams, if the water is OK for them.
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Maura
"You did then what you knew how to do and when you knew better... you did better!" -Maya Angelou |
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Steve Hampton
Moderators
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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| Posted: 2005.02.02(Wed)8:53 Post subject: |
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| mshortri wrote: | | I'm in the same boat as benedictj. I have a 40 gallon breeder tank with quite a bit of peat under Eco Complete substrate, and I plan to inject CO2 conservatively. I have 2.4 wpg and will be dosing nutrients as well. Unfortunately, this thread started just after I set up the tank. |
There's a big difference between using peat in the substrate as compared to using peat water, or filtering with peat to soften water and lower the pH. Using peat in the substrate will slowly add acids to your tank water and your water changes should be more than adequate to keep the acid buildup very low so that you shouldn't have any interference with the KH test kit. I want to stress the difference between filtering with peat and/or using peat water to using some peat in the substrate. Using peat in the substrate won't interfere with CO2 readings enough to make any difference. I use peat in almost all my substrates. It's the use of peat to lower water hardness and pH that will cause KH test kit interference due to the large amount of acids needed to affect a change in GH and pH. So, to summarize:
Using peat in substrate with CO2 injection: This is okay, and won't cause significant interference with KH test kit so you can use the CO2 chart to determine CO2 levels.
Using peat to soften water.: Using peat in the filter or "brewing" peat water to mix in the tank will soften water and lower pH but in doing so it adds lots of acid, this acid interferes with the KH test kit and render the CO2 charts useless for determining CO2 levels.
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Maura
Moderators
Joined: 12 Jan 2005
Location: Tampa, FL
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| Posted: 2005.02.02(Wed)9:45 Post subject: |
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Thanks Steve, that definitely clears things up. Right now, my water is pretty brown because I was messy about setup, and the peat is leaching into the water...I am seeing a small effect on pH and Hardness. So in the short term, I have both scenarios you described  But after a few water changes I'm sure things will settle down and stabilize. I won't have the CO2 going full blast for another couple weeks anyway.
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Maura
"You did then what you knew how to do and when you knew better... you did better!" -Maya Angelou |
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chkn
Members
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Location: Kansas City, MO
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| Posted: 2005.02.05(Sat)15:08 Post subject: |
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OK, so after all that.....when is it advisable to use Peat? I have purchased some peat, but after reading this thread again, I'm not sure I should?
I guess the reason I'm considering using peat is because my pH is high, and so is my water hardness. pH 8, and I'm wanting my German Rams to be happier. I have a planted tank as well, but am not injecting Co2. |
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Steve Hampton
Moderators
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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| Posted: 2005.02.05(Sat)15:44 Post subject: |
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| chkn wrote: | OK, so after all that.....when is it advisable to use Peat? I have purchased some peat, but after reading this thread again, I'm not sure I should?
I guess the reason I'm considering using peat is because my pH is high, and so is my water hardness. pH 8, and I'm wanting my German Rams to be happier. I have a planted tank as well, but am not injecting Co2. |
The only time peat is a problem is when you are injecting CO2 as it renders the CO2 charts useless so that it make determining CO2 levels very difficult. There 's no problems using peat to soften water if your not injecting CO2. Your situation would be fine, as would using reconstituted RO water.
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chkn
Members
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Location: Kansas City, MO
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| Posted: 2005.02.06(Sun)7:48 Post subject: |
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| Steve Hampton wrote: |
The only time peat is a problem is when you are injecting CO2 as it renders the CO2 charts useless so that it make determining CO2 levels very difficult. There 's no problems using peat to soften water if your not injecting CO2. Your situation would be fine, as would using reconstituted RO water. |
Very good! I'm going to add some peat to my media conatiner today and see how it goes. |
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chkn
Members
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Location: Kansas City, MO
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| Posted: 2005.02.14(Mon)8:09 Post subject: |
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I hate to go on and on with this topic, but thought I would put the results of my experiment with peat in this thread. If someone would rather me move the conversation elsewhere that would be fine.
I added some fluval peat granulars to one of my my emperor filters a couple of weeks ago. About a day after adding the peat, the pH of the tank dropped from about 7.8 to about 7.4 and the hardness dropped ever so slightly. Also, I never noticed a "tea" color to the water, but this could have been a result of my carbon. However, my carbon is at least 3 months old. I've never really changed it just using the filters for bacteria growth etc. A day later I checked the pH again, and it was back up to about 7.8 - 8.0. Hmpf. Not really very pleased with those results. However, I've been thinking about my tank, and for my substrate I used ordinary pea gravel that I bought from a home improvment store. I suppose it is possible that this gravel is leaching calcium or other nutrients into my water causing the pH and water hardness to actually rise? My pH stays around 7.8 - 8, never really goes any higher than that. Also my tap water measures way above 8. Probably 9 or more.
Anyone have any thoghts on this hypothesis? |
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elTwitcho
Members
Joined: 15 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 2005.02.17(Thu)0:08 Post subject: |
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It is very possible that your gravel can be increasing your pH and water hardness, in fact I've seen it happen a fair amount when people add rock to their tank that isn't as inert as they thought it was.
One thing I would check though is your testing kit, some places have hard water and all, but 8 or 9 sounds a little high for tapwater in my book.
And a question of my own, I assume then that peat in your filter acts as a buffer to some extent based on what Steve said, correct? I've wanted to lower my pH for some time to make my rhombeus feel a little more at home but was worried that my water would lose it's buffering capability and I'd have potentially dangerous pH swings from using peat to get that effect. If the pH can remain relatively stable using peat I would definately start using it, I actually rather like a slight tea color in my tank so that's another bonus. |
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maryj11
New Members
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: 2005.02.24(Thu)16:57 Post subject: |
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Hello,
I have very hard water and high pH. Where do I get the Fluval balls or fluval fibre?
Thanks |
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chkn
Members
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Location: Kansas City, MO
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