Re: peat and soft water

[daktari@earthlink.net]

Randy or Deb Carey wrote:
> 
> Frauley/Elson wrote:
> 
> > Hi all,
> > I've been following the various threads about peat, and tried an
> > experiment as a result. I took two 27 gallon tanks I wasn't using
> > anymore, and put about 15cm of peat moss in each. I then filled them
> > with Montreal tapwater (pH 7.4, 140 ppm, buffered to the point that even
> > in careful experiments with absurd amounts of acid, it always bounces
> > back to pH7.4).
> > The result? In 24 hours, I had a pH of 5.8 and a measurement of 10 ppm.
> > I know from keeping delicate killies that the garden centre peat I'm
> > using is clean of insectides, fertilizers, etc.
> > It seems too easy. Any comments?
> > -Gary
> 
> My aquarist friend who explained to me what's going on conducted his test with
> similar results:
> 
> start:      pH at 7.2, dH and kH at 11
> 24 hrs:   pH at 6.0, dH and kH at  3
> 36 hrs:   pH at 5.8, dH and kH at  2
> from there, dH and kH held steady while pH dropped gradually to 5.7 after a week.
> 
> The simple explanation is that the active ingredient in peat, digallic acid,
> gives up two hydrogen (making water acidic) in exchange for a calcium (removing
> hardness).
> 
> My friend set up a garbage can to hold and filter water through peat.  The
> recycling of water was accomplished through a power head.  As you can see, with a
> bail of peat (relatively cheap), he could produce twenty-some gallons of soft,
> acidic water each day.
> 
> I still prefer the simpler r/o unit for producing water for my daily changes, but
> I'm thinking of doing some peat filtration as a suppliment in my spawning tanks.
> I'm hoping the addition of organic material will help stimulate spawns.
> 
> --Randy


Thanks  so much, this  is the  most useful & informative post on the
peat subject!