In a message dated 3/16/2002 8:28:51 AM Eastern Standard Time, Engagg@aol.com writes:
homebrew supply store
Morning Greg
Wow, how would they use peat at a home brew supply store.
I too was using pre-made pellets made by fluval. I've also used the bottled stuff like Blackwater extract and stuff like that. But, not just because I have to stay on a tight budget but, I also like beating the system. And the do-it-yourself stuff works great for pennies.
Which reminds me. In one of my long e-mails I forgot to tell you. You mentioned about trying to keep water hard well here goes. Water here in Philly is about 7.2-7.4. I asked the guy who I bought my Fronts from. He's been breeding for some time and before that worked for a very popular Aquarium store which is no longer around but, was for ages.
He doesn't use any cichlid salt and not African buffers. Just plain old Baking Soda. I also talked to a guy at my fish club who has been keeping hard water Cichlids for some time and he uses a combo of Epson Salts and Baking Soda that's it no fancy stuff.
I've been keep my Fronts with Malawi Dolphins so I keep their water around 8.5 TDS is something like 850ppm. Even though I have a cycled filter and some media in there I still do 10 gallon changes on the 55 gallon weekly. But, the guy who told me about using the Baking Soda only does aquarium maintenance on the side. He services his clients tanks monthly the same way. I use about 1 tablespoon of Backing soda per 5 gallons of decloarinated water.
Another trick I learned from an older fish keeper. This guy went to college for engineering and education. He said you go to Home Depot buy some plaster of Paris. Spread it out on a board or something 1/4 - 1/2" let it dry and then just break off pieces and add to your filter media as needed to keep water hard.
Hope these inexpensive tricks helps you out....I love this kind of stuff. I know Kent sure doesn't want you to know about it....<G>
JerryB
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