# peat moss?



## oscarman77 (Oct 16, 2004)

_i was just wondering what the benifits of peat moss would be? and how in the world i would put it in my tank, in the tank or the filter? can i just buy peat moss from the flower shop or do i have to special order it for aquariums?









i was reading a thread on blackwater extract also, so iv'e polled it to see which one you p-furians would prefer, IF ANY







_


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Don't use peat moss from flower shops, it can be treated with alot of things that are going to be toxic to your fish.

Peat moss will lower the hardness and ph of your water creating a more natural water chemistry than you'd get from tapwater. You put it in your filter, however it will stain your water brown


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## WorldBelow07 (Dec 16, 2004)

so you can use peat moss from like terrium moss for frogs and stuff?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

No idea. I'd stick with the kind made for aquariums myself. Not to say that there aren't brands of peat moss that won't work in aquariums, because there certainly are, it's just that aquarium moss you know for sure will not have any toxic treatments or contents like urea


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

go to the lizard dept. and look for bricks or slabs of peat. They may or may not be w/ packaging.


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## Feeding_Frenzy (Feb 12, 2005)

What does peat lower your pH to? 6.5?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

It really depends on the quality of peat, hardness of your water and how much peat is used. It can actually lower your ph to 3.0 if you're using R/O water, but that's not an issue for tapwater. Personally, after doing a bit more reading, a better way of using peat is to soak peat in some water you're going to use for a water change to make a peat solution, that you would mix with your other water during a water change to give you more predictable ph results. Basically, like a home made blackwater extract that would lower your ph and softness. Sounds safer than putting a bunch in your filter and hoping it works out IMO


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## Feeding_Frenzy (Feb 12, 2005)

Actually, Fluval makes a granular form I'll prolly end up putting that in and hoping for the best.







the water from my tap is about 7.4-7.6 pH I'll be happy if I can bring it below 7. I heard driftwood lowers pH as well.


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