Re: reducing water hardness for breeding discus

[IDMiamiBob@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/26/99 7:46:54 PM Mountain Standard Time,
hickmanb@accessus.net writes:

> I'm not 100% sure that I'm right about this but I think that hard water
>  filtered through peat moss will be both softened and acidified.
>  I know peat can be purchased very cheaply, in bulk from nurseries as I've
>  just bought a 50 lbs. bag.

Hope you bought Sphagnum peat, because that is the most effective.  Not that
the others don't work, they just take a lot longer to get the effect you are
looking for.

>  I know the more expense peat granules I have in
>  my Aqua Clear filter last quite a while so I would also assume that I will
>  be able to treat allot of water with 50 lbs. of peat moss.  I believe I
>  remember someone telling me I could just put the peat in a bag an throw it
>  into my holding tank (40 gallon trash can).

Yep.  Old nylons work well for this.  It will work faster if the water is
actually pumpedthrough it in some fashion, but letting the peat soak will work
kind of like a tea bag (whih brings us to using tea to get the tannins, but
that's another thread).

>  I also remember something about
>  boiling the peat but I'm not sure that is correct.

Boiling reduces the possibility of introduing unwanted critters (bacteria and
the like) which may be harmful.  It also makes the peat sink better and
initiates the release of the tannins and humus.  Unfortunately, many of these
goodies are lost into the water you boil it with.  But on the other hand,
maybe this is the water you want to use for your next water change.  It will
drop hardness and pH in a hurry.

>  I haven't tried this method yet but I would like to hear from the more
>  experienced members to find if I'm sharing good info.  If I'm right this
>  maybe a very cheap way to soften your water.

It works well enough but isn't "Scientific" enough in its appliccation for you
to have quantitave and defined doses or other controls.  It is sort of a seat
of the pants kind of thing, requiring practice to get what you want and
probably 2-3 years to get a hang of the amount of peat, the "half-life" of
that amount of peat in a given amount of your particular water,  It's an
effective, if somewhat uncontrollable technique.  I have thought some about
getting a piece of 3" PVC and stuffing it with peat, then filling a abrrel of
water through it at a dribble to see what the outcome would be.

Bob Dixon


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